FCA Halts 500L Production Due To Supply Disruptions In China

The Coronavirus has struck again as Fiat Chrysler had to temporarily stop production for the Fiat 500L at its Kragujevac plant in Serbia, due to disruptions related to audio system components imported from China.

According to a company spokesman, production will restart later this month, with FCA not expecting these changes to affect total production forecasts for February, reports Autonews Europe.

“We are in the process of securing future supply of the affected parts,” stated the spokesman.

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Output at the Kragujevac plant last year was roughly 40,000 units, making up a quarter of the total capacity, as per Serbian media.

Earlier this month, FCA anticipated that they might have to temporarily close one of their European plants, given how the Coronavirus impacted supply lines in China.

The Kragujevac plant is the very first factory in Europe that had to be put on idle because of this virus outbreak, which has already caused plenty of chaos around the globe, disrupting multiple industries.

Among its more recent casualties we count the 2020 F1 Chinese Grand Prix, which has now been postponed, but possibly also the Beijing Auto Show, which was supposed to be held in April and its status is currently up in the air.

As for the Chinese car industry, sales in the People’s Republic have gone down by 18%, with the country’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers warning the industry that the impact of this virus could be worse than the 2003 SARS epidemic.