It is also the return to school for French car factories that had taken their summer vacations. A return to school still marked by the shortage of semiconductors that has weakened the sector for almost two years.
Production was halted until at least Saturday.
The Stellantis factory in Sochaux, the historic industrial site of Peugeot, is the most affected by the phenomenon, as explained by the secretary of the CFDT in Sochaux-Belfort, Benoît Vernier:
“Sometimes we produce certain vehicles without the component, so we produce an incomplete vehicle. We will have a few hundred vehicles a day, sometimes 200 depending on the components that we leave out. And on Saturday, we will have the painters come to work hours extras because they will have received the parts and will be able to finish the vehicle”.
The site, which resumed its activity on Tuesday, August 16, has already been forced to adapt its activity with an afternoon session canceled on Wednesday, August 24, as well as the following morning.
“The management announces new suppressions, on Thursday morning, until Saturday August 27 inclusive”, stresses France Bleu.
Sochaux site management is due to provide a further update on the situation on Friday at 5pm
A problem for the employees of the site, with announcements of interruption of production “distilled drop by drop by the management”, denounces Eric Peultier, union representative of Stellantis and member of the office of the departmental union FO of the Territory of Belfort, quoted in the France Bleu article: “This way of doing things annoys all employees affected by the prospect of losing money and not being able to plan anything, especially for childcare.”
A shortage that affects the entire automotive sector
The Sochaux plant is not an isolated case, the shortage affects all car manufacturers, recalls sector expert Arnaud Aymé, a partner at SIA Partners:
“Stellantis and Renault, like the automotive sector in general, have not come out of the crisis. The shortage is still relevant, we expect a rebound next year but it is not yet. Manufacturers’ volumes are still limited: this isn’t. It’s not that vehicles are selling very poorly, it’s just that we can’t produce enough.”
In addition to this cyclical shortage, there are other issues that manufacturers will have to deal with from the start of the school year. With, in particular and in addition to the issue of wages, the transition to electricity.
Source: BFM TV
