MILAN (Reuters) -Stellantis has set up a “war room” to address possible chip shortages stemming from issues at Dutch group Nexperia linked to the U.S.-China trade war, the automaker’s CEO said on Thursday.
“We are monitoring day-by-day the chip situation from Nexperia,” Chief Executive Antonio Filosa told analysts in a call to discuss third quarter performance.
“Every day we are pushing actions and projects” to produce without stoppages, Filosa said, replying to an analyst who asked whether Stellantis was in a similar position to Volkswagen.
The German automaker has said it cannot rule out stoppages to production in the short term due to chip shortages.
“This is a day-by-day management of what is an industry-wide global issue,” Filosa said.
Industry bodies have sounded the alarm over the possible impact on production after the Dutch government seized control of Chinese-owned Nexperia last month, citing intellectual property concerns, while China curbed exports of finished products needed by European automakers.
U.S.-China trade tensions, including on semiconductors, could ease after Thursday’s announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump that he had reached a deal with President Xi Jinping.
Under the agreement, the U.S. would trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, resuming U.S. soybean purchases and keeping rare earths exports flowing.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Alvise Armellini)
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