Renault will shut down its factories in Batilly (Meurthe-et-Moselle) and Cléon (Seine-Maritime), due to a lack of electronic chips but also parts from Ukraine, according to information from France Bleu confirmed by the manufacturer on Thursday and unions.
The Batilly factory, whose 2,700 employees build the Renault Master van, will be shut down for a week from Monday.
That of Cléon (3,300 employees), which manufactures engines and gearboxes, should close for three days at the end of the week for lack of vehicles to equip, said a Renault spokesperson.
Employees will be on partial unemployment.
"
These are the usual shortages, aggravated by the conflict in Ukraine
," said William Audoux, of the CGT union in Cléon.
The shortage of electronic chips, produced mainly in Asia, has slowed down the automotive industry since the start of 2021.
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Strong exposure to the Ukrainian conflict
But the stoppage of Master production at Batilly is also linked to the lack of a window regulator module produced by the German subcontractor Kostal near kyiv in Ukraine, which is also found on the Renault Trafic produced at Sandouville (Seine-Maritime), according to one of the central delegates of the CFDT at Renault, Lionel Langlais.
Another subcontractor "
would be ready
" to take over, said Mr. Langlais, especially since the order books are "
full
" and the factory has announced the hiring of 50 people on permanent contracts.
Renault is mainly exposed to the Ukrainian conflict via its investment in the AvtoVAZ group, number one on the Russian market, whose factories are shut down due to a shortage of imported components, linked to Western sanctions against Russia.
Other manufacturers such as Volkswagen, BMW or Stellantis have also suspended their factories in recent weeks due to shortages of semiconductors or parts from Ukraine.
