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Here is the impact of the absence of chips on the Italian plants of Stellantis

2 years ago babelfish

Here is the impact of the absence of chips on the Italian plants of Stellantis

The latest lockdowns imposed by Beijing and the lack of chips cause other stops at the Italian Stellantis plants. All the details

"The difficulties in procuring material have been present for some months now and it is surprising how the fourth world vehicle manufacturer is unable to organize production by offloading, once again, the cost of this umpteenth stop on the pockets of workers, already in difficulty for the 'increase in the cost of living, with many of them having already purchased weekly passes for public transport to go to work ”. Fiom wrote it about the last stop at the end of summer (which took place in the middle of what would once have been the post-holiday recovery) of the Sevel plant in Val di Sangro, in Abruzzo, where the commercial vehicles of the group are built Stellantis and the Jeep factory, in Melfi, in Basilicata, near Potenza. The statement recalls how the chip crisis, so far ignored by our local politics, concerns us closely, since it involves Stellantis plants already in difficulty and on which the sword of Damocles hangs from numerous layoffs.

STELLANTIS BLOCKED BY CHIPS (AND NOT ONLY)

"The umpteenth production stop – the unions denounce – this time due to the lack of supply of engines for the Citroen and Peugeot vans, throws further concern on the prospects of the site". On the Italian plants of Stellantis, as explained by the Corriere , the black clouds of a perfect storm have thickened: not only are the chips missing, but also materials from China, struggling with the latest – hopefully – tail blows of Covid-19. The interruptions in the factories in Shanghai and the closure of the main Asian port at the beginning of the year represent the classic flapping of the butterfly's wings which, on the other side of the world, causes fatal damage after a few months.

"The continuous production stops – Fiom complain – are putting in serious difficulty even the workers in the motor home sector which does not receive vehicles to transform and consequently fails to respond to a rapidly expanding market".

"The absence in the political debate of the electoral campaign and in the programs of political forces is surprising – Simone Marinelli , national automotive coordinator for Fiom-Cgil and Alfredo Fegatelli , general secretary Fiom-Cgil Chieti note – of the issue of relaunching the mobility sector, a strategic sector for industry, the economy and employment ".

CUTS ON SIGHT

In the neglect of politics which, as we have been highlighting for some time, does not even concern itself with attracting foreign capital to build new gigafactories (as Spain , France and Germany are doing), the existing plants are proceeding in fits and starts.

"Concerns about the future that increase due to the downward revisions of the number of vans to be produced in Val di Sangro and this also applies to the related industries even if some companies are limiting the damage by supplying part of the production to the" sister "plant in Gliwic (Poland ) ”, They always say from Fiom.

The electric Fiat 500 is produced in Mirafiori; in Cassino the Grecale by Maserati and the triptych Alfa Giulietta, Giulia, Stelvio; in Melfi the Jeep Renegade and Compass plus the Fiat 500 X; in Pomigliano the Fiat Panda, the Alfa Romeo Tonale and the Dodge Hornet, too little, recalls the Corriere , to have the full saturation of the workforce. In addition, the Stellantis group plans to reduce its employees by 1,800 by the end of 2022, going from 50,800 in 2021 to about 49,000 and, again from via Solferino, they let it be known that "it is rumored that it wants to drop to 48 thousand in 2023 ". These are voluntary incentives that have already affected over 2,700 workers.

WHAT GIORGETTI SAID ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE CAR

From the government, the outgoing holder of the MiSE, Giancarlo Giorgetti, in the last few hours recalled the measures made: "while those on demand have already been effective this year, those on supply imply a process of restructuring of the business sector and, therefore – he reassures -, it will be fully deployed starting next year ”.

But then the Northern League admitted that Italy is far behind in terms of ecological transition, which is now the future of the car industry: "it is necessary to make a reasoning that goes beyond the ambition to make a green transition towards a more sustainable world, but which also takes into account strategic missions, for example where the components that are used in the electric car come from, so as not to find ourselves tomorrow in exactly the same situation with China, as we are today with Russia ". And this "also taking into account the reality of our manufacturing, our economic system and the many workers employed in this sector".

Common sense words, of course, but which are now at least five years late on the European and world roadmap, given that the other states are no longer discussing which technology to embrace, but are already racing towards electricity. The EU itself has now decided to favor EV engines and very soon it could give a coup de grace to those who, like us, have fallen behind, excluding endothermic engines from the market.

Giorgetti , also recently, admitted the difference of views between Rome and Brussels: “we have negotiated, we have obtained small results. What is positive, in my opinion, is that in recent times this sort of non-contestable doctrine has been questioned: there are car manufacturers who have retraced their steps and have understood that the right approach is technological neutrality. There is not only electricity but also other ways to achieve the objectives of environmental sustainability ".

Political indecision and industrial expectations risk making our country increasingly marginal in the automotive sector. Also because, as recently reminded Corriere Gerardo Giannone, a worker assigned to the assembly line of Pomigliano planks: “Sergio Marchionne was loved and hated at the same time but he was the Italian point of reference in defense of Italian production. Tavares makes the results, this is what matters to the shareholders ”.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/ecco-limpatto-dellassenza-di-chip-sugli-stabilimenti-italiani-di-stellantis/ on Mon, 19 Sep 2022 04:38:32 +0000.