Stellantis to modify speedometers for Peugeot car due to chips shortage

Stellantis said it would replace digital speedometers with more old-fashioned analogue ones in one of its Peugeot models, due to a global shortage of semiconductor chips.

The change will only impact Peugeot 308 cars, among group brands that include Chrysler, Citroen, and Jeep since France’s PSA Group merged with Italian-American automaker Fiat-Chrysler this year to create Stellantis.

“It’s a nifty and agile way of getting around a real hurdle for car production until the ‘chips’ crisis ends,” a representative for Stellantis informed Reuters.

Production of Peugeot 308 cars had already been disrupted at the automaker’s French factory of Sochaux because of the shortage, echoing temporary halts and production cutbacks worldwide.

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.

The traditional speedometers on Peugeot 308 cars should start appearing in automobiles by the end of May, the automaker said, while Stellantis is keeping chips for digital dashboards on its best-selling models, such as the Peugeot 3008 SUV.

Peugeot sold around 98.000 of its 308 models in 2020.