STELLANTIS-owned Maserati has joined a protracted record of producers dealing with manufacturing delays as a part of the continuing world semiconductor scarcity, saying that the debut of its mid-sized Grecale SUV shall be postponed till the second quarter of subsequent 12 months.
Initially because of make its world debut on November 16 – and slated for arrival in Australian showrooms by mid-2022 – the sub-Levante SUV is considered one of a number of Stellantis group fashions dealing with delay from the industry-wide disruption.
Stellantis additionally introduced lately that its Alfa Romeo Tonale SUV, which was initially because of make its debut on the finish of this 12 months, will now go on sale from March after its manufacturing was impacted by part and provide chain interruptions.
The corporate mentioned that regardless of the problems it’s persevering with to do the whole lot doable to make sure manufacturing delays are minimised.
“Maserati remains to be laborious at work regardless of the part provide issues hitting your complete transportation {industry} and is set to ensure the continuity of its enterprise,” a spokesperson mentioned.
“Nevertheless, as a result of scarcity of semiconductors, the amount of manufacturing wouldn’t permit us to correctly reply to the anticipated world demand for the Grecale.
“We now have delayed manufacturing in view of the background issues which have brought on interruptions within the provide chains for the important thing parts crucial to finish the automobile’s manufacturing course of.”
The Stellantis group has paused manufacturing at a number of crops globally in response to the chip scarcity. It has forecast that it’ll produce 1.4 million automobiles fewer this 12 months than initially deliberate.
The FIM-CISL union – the commerce union representing automobile manufacturing employees – mentioned the influence of the semiconductor scarcity on Stellantis’ Italian manufacturing this 12 months shall be “worse and longer-lasting” than the injury to output brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The Semiconductor Business Affiliation mentioned elevated demand for laptops, tablets, and different know-how objects all through the COVID-19 pandemic improve demand for its product by greater than 6.5 per cent at a time when shutdowns had been impacting chief chip manufacturing services in China, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.
The {industry} is claimed to be working “at capability” to handle the shortfall in demand, however the delays imply automobile manufacturing is not going to return to regular for as much as 12 months.
“The semiconductor disaster, from the whole lot I see – and I’m unsure I can see the whole lot – goes to tug into ’22 simple as a result of I don’t see sufficient indicators that extra manufacturing from Asian sourcing factors goes to return to the West within the close to future,” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares advised media lately.
Stellantis group fashions be part of others from producers together with Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, and Volkswagen in delaying new-model launches as a direct results of the much-publicised chip scarcity.
Stellantis, fashioned this 12 months by way of the merger of Fiat Chrysler Cars and the Peugeot Societe Anonyme (PSA) Groupe, is the world’s fourth-largest automobile producer with manufacturers together with Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroen, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Mopar, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, and Vauxhall underneath its umbrella.
