Stellantis and Infiniti cut production due to chip shortage

Stellantis said it would cut more than 1600 jobs at its Jeep plant in Illinois, in a sign that chip shortages are intensifying and are causing more lasting damage to the auto industry.

Stellantis said it would cut a second shift at its Belvidere (Belvidere) plant by July 26, a move that would affect as many as 1671 employees. The purpose of the shift reduction is to balance sales and production of Jeep Free Light (Cherokee), the company said in an email statement. The decline in FG SUV production is "exacerbated by an unprecedented global shortage of microchips," Stellantis said.

As the United States moves away from the epidemic blockade and people are more inclined to buy private vehicles, cars have been in short supply, but Free Light is not the beneficiary. Last year, US sales of the model plunged 29 per cent to 191397. During the outbreak, overall delivery of the Jeep brand also fell by 14%.

In addition, Japanese brand Infiniti also announced that it would suspend production of QX50 compact crossovers due to chip supply shortages. It is reported that Infiniti's plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico, will suspend production of QX50 models in June.

A spokesman for the company confirmed the news and pointed out that production of Q50 cars will also be suspended at the company's plant in Japan from next month. "We will continue to work closely with supplier partners to assess the impact of supply chain problems and minimize the impact on retailers and customers," the spokesman said. "

The QX50 is Infiniti's best-selling model, accounting for about 1/3 of Infiniti's total U. S. sales in the first quarter. Dallas Fox, an executive at Tim Dahle Infiniti, an Infiniti dealer in (Salt Lake City), Salt Lake City, expects QX50's inventory to run out in mid-June and will not be replenished until July. "We may not have a good summer," he said. "