PARIS, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Stellantis (STLA.MI) is using an abandoned airport in eastern France to store cars that are ready for delivery but cannot be shipped or stored at its Sochaux plant because of unprecedented logistical problems, two sources told Reuters.
Carmakers across Europe are struggling to make deliveries due to a lack of truck drivers and a shortage of truck and train capacity under the combined effects of the war in Ukraine and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With several thousand cars waiting to be shipped from Sochaux, where the best-selling Peugeot 3008 and 5008 are produced, Stellantis turned to an unusual solution, using a former military airfield at Lure-Malbouhans, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) away, to stored temporarily, the sources said.
“This disused airport is now being used steadily to store cars manufactured in Sochaux,” said one of the sources.
A spokesman for the manufacturer said it “provides additional spaces and surfaces for car storage”, but declined to elaborate.
A union source said Stellantis produces about 1,100 cars a day but has the capacity to ship only about 800.
Report by Gilles Guillaume; Written by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Kim Coghill
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