Stellantis to close Russian van plant as supply chain issues bite
Automotive giant Stellantis said today it will be forced to close its Russian van plant following a shortage of parts.
Operating only for the local market, the facility is situated in the western city of Kaluga and was run in partnership with Mitsubish.
The world’s fourth-largest car maker didn’t specify whether it would write down the plant’s value or feared it would be seized by Moscow.
Stellantis – who suspended earlier this month all imports and exports with Russia – is the latest automotive manufacturer to be hit by a war-induced lack of materials.
As a result of the war’s impact on a global supply chain already weakened by two years of pandemic, BMW was forced to cut 2022 profit margins and halt production in several EU factories because of a lack of parts.
Rival Volkswagen said a shortage of Ukraine-made wire harnesses had become the group’s biggest supply chain issue, putting Volkswagen’s “existing outlook into question.”
According to Stellantis’s chief executive Carlos Tavares, the industry – born last year from the merger between Fiat Chrysler and PSA – will need adapt to supply chain issues.
“We will have to find another way to adapt the supply chain, we have several initiatives to create local sourcing of semiconductors,” said Tavares, whose group owns Jeep, Citroen and Fiat.
The chief executive said the group had just unveiled its first business plan and was not looking to merge.
“We always look at what is in the market, but don’t need M&A, this is very clear,” he said.