Nissan to see factory stoppages in Mexico due to chip shortage

Nissan will put temporary work stoppages at two Mexican plants for sometime in October due to a shortage of semiconductor chips, the automaker said on Wednesday.

The automaker will halt operations at its plant 2 in the central state of Aguascalientes for 11 days in October, and its CIVAC plant in Morelos state will be temporarily halted for 8 days.

The stoppages come as automotive production in Brazil and Mexico, Latin America’s two largest economies, declined in September, dragged down by an industry-wide semiconductor chip shortage and railroad blockades in Mexico.

“We keep making adjustments to our production process to minimize the impact this has had on the automotive industry locally and worldwide,” said Nissan.

The chip shortage, which has hit automakers worldwide, emerges from a confluence of factors as automakers, which closed plants for two months during the coronavirus pandemic last year, rival against the sprawling consumer electronics industry for chip supplies. A factory fire suffered by Japanese chipmaker Renesas this year is also cited as a reason behind the chip shortage.