Thursday, September 30, 2021
Shortage of semiconductors
Opel closes the Eisenach plant for the time being
At Opel in Eisenach, Thuringia, the production lines are temporarily at a standstill: Due to the lack of semiconductors, production cannot continue here. The employees go on short-time work. The Grandland is to be produced here again in the coming year.
The car manufacturer Opel will close its plant in Eisenach from next week until the end of the year due to delivery bottlenecks for important components. “Due to the ongoing pandemic and a global shortage of semiconductors, the global automotive industry is in an exceptional situation. In this demanding and uncertain situation, Stellantis is planning to make adjustments to production,” said a spokesman for the manufacturer belonging to the European conglomerate Stellantis, explaining the move.
According to the spokesman, 1,300 employees are affected by the temporary closure of the plant in Thuringia. “Short-time working is planned for employees in order to make the measure socially acceptable.” It is difficult to estimate how many vehicles will not roll off the assembly line due to the months of downtime, since production has already been reduced due to delivery bottlenecks and long delivery times.
The entire automotive industry has been struggling with delivery problems for semiconductors for some time. When asked, the spokesman did not want to give a specific date for the resumption of production in the plant. Production of the SUV Grandland in Eisenach should restart at the beginning of 2022, provided that the supply chains allow it.