Stellantis extends Fiat 500 halt at Mirafiori to four weeks

Stellantis will extend the stoppage at its Mirafiori plant in Turin through 13 November, covering 9-13 November, Reuters reported. That makes four consecutive weeks without Fiat 500 output at the plant.

A Stellantis spokesperson said weak demand caused the first two weeks of the halt, which began in mid-October. For this week and next, the company links the shutdown to a shortage of chips used in engine control units.

Union challenges company account

FIOM officials dispute the company's explanation. Gianni Mannori of the FIOM metalworkers' union called blaming the component shortage "an alibi." The union says weak demand for the Fiat 500 remains the primary driver of the stoppage.

Earlier chip warning

On 2 November, Stellantis said a shortage of an electronic component used in an engine control unit was causing "significant" disruption to Fiat production in Italy and could continue through November and December. The missing component is a chip used in an engine control unit, the computer that manages the engine, Reuters reported. The shortage had already weighed on October sales, particularly for the Fiat Pandina, an updated version of the Panda and one of Fiat's best-selling small cars.

Reuters reported on 2 November that Mirafiori was already in a three-week halt that began in mid-October because of a separate component shortage, with unions citing weak demand for the Fiat 500 as one factor. The earlier report tied the full three-week halt to another component shortage. The company now says weak demand caused the first two weeks and the chip shortage caused this week and next.

Mirafiori had also stopped production in August and September. Stellantis attributed those disruptions to engine component shortages, while unions pointed to weaker-than-expected demand for the Fiat 500. The plant had already been scheduled to shut for two weeks at the end of October.

Further stoppages could hit Pomigliano near Naples, where the Pandina is built, and Mirafiori, where the Fiat 500 is made. They could also affect Termoli, where Stellantis assembles the N3 GSE engine used in both models.

Stellantis said it and Fiat were "working with the highest priority to identify alternative solutions" and would gradually restore normal operations.

Stellantis has not said whether the current shortage is connected to wider semiconductor supply problems that intensified after the Dutch government took control of Nexperia in late 2025, prompting China to restrict exports from the company's Chinese plants.

Italian output context

The stoppage comes after Stellantis' Italian output fell to its lowest since 1954 in 2025 and then rose in the first half of 2026. FIM Cisl said output rose 13.7% in the first half of 2026 from a year earlier to 252,223 vehicles. The union projected about 500,000 vehicles for the full year 2026, 33% below 2023's roughly 750,000 and below the government's 1 million target.

In 2025, Italian production fell 20% to below 380,000 units, the lowest since 1954. Cars fell 24.5% to 213,706 and commercial vehicles fell 13.5% to 166,000. Mirafiori was the only plant to grow, by 16% from 26,000 units in 2024.

The 2025 drop followed an even larger decline in 2024. In January 2026, the carmaker committed to raising output at its Italian plants, in a bid to mend strained relations with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government. FIM Cisl secretary Ferdinando Uliano called for the new industrial plan to be brought forward, saying "we need investments and models."

What happens next

The current extension ends on 13 November. Stellantis has not identified the supplier behind the missing component or said how many vehicles it expects to lose.