Affected by the shortage of electronic components, Renault must shut down its Douai plant, which hosts the production of the Mégane E-Tech.
The situation is still very difficult for the automotive industry, and has been for several months now. While the health crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic seems to have a lesser impact on global automobile production, it nevertheless comes up against many other difficulties. We are of course thinking of the shortage of semiconductors, a consequence of the epidemic, which has impacted all manufacturers for more than two years, but not only.
Indeed, for a few weeks now, the automotive industry has been affected by another crisis, this time due to the war in Ukraine. Started more than a month ago, it has a considerable impact on manufacturers, forced to close some of their factories due to supply problems. Indeed, many brands have production sites in Ukraine and Russia, the pace of which is slowed down.
The Douai plant on hiatus
This is particularly the case of Renault, which is particularly affected by the crisis in Ukraine. Firstly because the firm owns the company AvtoVAZ, responsible for marketing Lada models in Russia. But that’s unfortunately not all for the diamond firm, which also suffered the consequences of the war in its factories based in France.
This is particularly the case of the Douai production site, where the new Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric has been manufactured for several weeks. From this morning, and until April 25, the assembly lines will be shut down due to a lack of electronic components. The production of the compact electric will therefore be paused until the stock of parts is growing enough to resume continuous production.
Several closures
As for the 2,300 employees working in the Douai factory, they will be placed on partial unemployment during these ten days, as Automobile Propre points out. While production of the Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric will obviously be impacted, customers should not experience any delays. Indeed, the first copies of the raised compact should arrive in dealerships by next month, leaving time for the brand to produce these copies.
This is not an unprecedented situation for Renault, which had already been forced to close two of its French factories last March. The 2,700 employees of the production sites of Batilly, in Meurthe-et-Moselle and Cléon (Seine-Maritime) were then placed on unemployment for three days to a week, again due to supply problems.
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