VW's Seat to Close Spanish Plant for Three Days on Lack of Chips

By Joshua Kirby

Volkswagen AG's Spanish subsidiary Seat said Tuesday that it will close its plant at Martorell outside Barcelona for three days from Friday, as global semiconductor shortages continue to squeeze auto production.

Seat's Martorell plant will close on Friday, June 25, as well as Monday and Tuesday, June 28 and 29, a spokesman for the company said. Production shifts on line 3 of the plant have meanwhile been cancelled until July 2.

"Despite great efforts to keep production lines open, global semiconductor supply constraints, which affect the entire automotive industry, will force the Martorell plant to close" on those dates, the spokesman said.

Seat said it is working to ensure no further disruptions occur, but cannot rule any further adjustments at the plant. Internal flexibility measures have been agreed with labor unions, the company added.

A global shortage of semiconductors has already delayed the production of 500,000 vehicles worldwide, and could continue to affect auto makers into 2022, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers warned last week.

Write to Joshua Kirby at [e-mail]; @joshualeokirby

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 22, 2021 09:26 ET (13:26 GMT)

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