Spanish car manufacturing sector in crisis due to shortage of chips

Lack of components forces Stellantis car factories in Spain to cease production

Image of a Stellantis car plant in Spain. Credit: Stellantis

THE SPANISH car manufacturing industry is in the middle of a major crisis due to the worldwide shortage of chips

According to data from the Spanish car manufacturing industry, a serious shortage of chips is creating a major crisis, with many factories across the country prevented from working at their expected output as a result.

Added to this, is a reported drop in demand from foreign countries in the first eight months of 2021, which has seen exports fall framatically by around 20 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2019.

Due to this shortage of semiconductors, the first eight months of this year has caused a drop of 25.3 per cent in car production, compared to 2019, simply because without the chips, the vehicles can not be completed when they reach the end of the assembly lines.

Around 1,414,240 units have been manufactured so far this year in Spain, an increase of 11 per cent on 2020, when the pandemic was at its height, but a figure that is 25.3 per cent less compared to 2019, simply because without the chips, the vehicles can not be completed when they reach the end of the assembly lines.

The 2020 figures, of course, include the two and a half months during which the factories were on standstill, but this worldwide shortage of microchips has led to Spanish factories having to paralyse production lines, and make adjustments in shifts, depending on the supply of microchips.

Initial forecasts have reportedly indicated that the pace of manufacture of these components will not match the demand of the automotive sector until at least the end of the first half of 2022.

Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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