Renault halts production of electric Mégane due to supply chain issues

French automaker Renault has been forced to halt production of the Mégane E-Tech Electric in France due to a shortage of semiconductors and a lack of parts from Ukraine, due to the combined impacts of Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to French clean car blog Automobile Propre, Renault has had to pause production of the Mégane E-Tech Electric at its Douai site to avoid a production sawtooth and unnecessary production costs.

As a result, the 2,300 employees were placed on partial unemployment from April 14 to 25.

Renault says the first deliveries of the Mégane E-Tech Electric will not be delayed, with the first handovers expected for May in France, but later deliveries will obviously be impacted by this unexpected production shutdown.

Two Renault factories were forced to temporarily shut down last month due to a lack of electronic parts from Ukraine and Asia, including the Renault factories in Batilly, in Meurthe-et-Moselle, and in Seine-Maritime.

The impact on Renault’s electrification plans could be significant, as the Mégane is a completely new model for the company.

And while other automakers have also had to postpone new EV launches – such as the ID.5 from Volkswagen – Renault’s problem is that, unlike Volkswagen, where the ID.4 is still available, the Mégane E-Tech Electric is the first Renault model on the all-electric CMF-EV platform.

The production shutdowns are being caused by a range of factors, including ongoing semiconductor shortages which have been affecting all technology sectors, as well as more recent shortages of electronic parts that would normally have come from Ukraine.

A rampaging COVID-19 variant in China is also making matters difficult, as has been seen by a number of production halts by companies such as Nio, Tesla, and Volkswagen.