Scania halts European truck production as chip shortage continue

Truckmaker Scania will halt production at its European truck plants this week as the shortage of semiconductors continues.

Scania is pausing production at its plants in Sweden, France, and the Netherlands for the whole week.

“We are slowing down to a temporarily lower production volume,” the company’s spokesperson said.

Scania press chief Karin Hallstan said, adding the company’s South American plants will pause truck production by the next week.

“They are now keeping it up for a few days when we are holding back here in Europe,” Hallstan said.

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.