At the beginning of February, the “terminal” part of the Stellantis factory in Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin) was shut down. The reason: the shortage of semiconductors. This one-week interruption had arrived in the middle of the launch period of the new version of the Peugeot 308 in Mulhouse. The model is one of the ten best-selling cars in France, with nearly 9,000 vehicles sold between January and March 2022. This time, it is the establishment of a 3rd team of 850 temporary workers, postponed for the first time to mid-April, which is shifted to the beginning of summer, always for the same reason.
“The 308 is equipped with more semiconductors than other models,” explains Laurent Gauthard, CFE-CGC site manager. The management hoped to be able to put the 3rd team in place from April 19. But, despite a return to normal production with 700 vehicles built per day, the date has again been pushed back. “We alerted the unions, at the beginning of the month, of the shift of this team to the beginning of July”, assures Magali Leduc, spokesperson for Stellantis Mulhouse, referring to “a lack of visibility on the supply of semiconductors”. The production of the Alsatian site was 65,000 vehicles in 2021 against 230,000 in 2019.
No return to normal before 2023 according to experts
A reinforcement desired by Laurent Gauthard: “Given the order books, we could manufacture 350 more vehicles per day. It is hoped that the material conditions will be met by the beginning of the summer”. For the moment, Stellantis Mulhouse has not yet contacted temporary work agencies to study the profiles sought. Already weakened by the pandemic which affected Asian production sites, the semiconductor supply chain was once again seriously impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Experts do not expect a return to normal before 2023, 2024 for the most pessimistic. Faced with this uncertainty, the site is turning to recruiting more “technical” profiles, having acquired very specific skills such as production system pilots or supervisors”, specifies the spokesperson for the factory.