Stellantis is forced to halt production at six European plants

Car sales are experiencing sustained growth and are gradually returning to pre-COVID levels. But they are not doing so at the pace everyone would like, and there appear to be too many unsold new cars at dealerships and in factory lots. As a result, manufacturers have to take drastic measures to contain the unsold stock. The Stellantis Group has had to do so, and not with a single brand in particular, but with all the brands under the group’s umbrella.

The decision has been to halt production at six European plants in order to contain the number of unsold vehicles in European territory. This will have serious consequences, since it has not been communicated for how long they will remain inactive. If the period is short, it can be absorbed without problems. But if it is too long, it could have serious consequences for some of them.

Two Spanish plants affected by the closure

The closed plants are those in Poissy (France), Pomigliano (Italy), Tychy (Poland) and Eisenach (Germany), but also two other plants that affect Spain quite significantly. These are the Figueruelas plants in Zaragoza and the one in Madrid. For now, the Vigo plant is spared from the temporary closure, but this does not mean the situation will not extend over time.

According to some information published by the French press, the Zaragoza plant will be inactive for seven days. According to the same reports, the Madrid plant will be closed for 14 days. The Stellantis factory in Figueruelas produces segment B vehicles, compacts such as the Peugeot 298, the Opel Corsa and the Lancia Ypsilon, a model that has just entered production. This plant manufactures both combustion-engine and electric variants.

The Madrid facilities produce the Citroën C4, a model that does not have sufficient demand and which already means production of this model is not running at 100%, so this was a situation to be expected at this factory.

Stellantis has faced several serious problems in recent years, such as the faulty Takata airbags and the major problems caused by the Puretech engines fitted to the group’s models.