Production of cars with 1.3 litre Multijet diesel engines was set to resume on Sunday (24 February) after quality problems interrupted supply from Fiat’s Bielsko Biala plant in Poland.
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Around 25% of all Fiat cars are fitted with the engine which is also supplied to General Motors Europe for some Opel/Vauxhall models.
Problems with a component from an external supplier were discovered last Monday during the second shift.
“A number of anomalies have emerged with regard to an externally-supplied component for the 1.3 Multijet engine,” Fiat said in a statement, adding that “the company is making every possible effort to speed up controls and adaptations that could become necessary.”
Fiat vehicle assembly lines at Mirafiori, Melfi, Termini Imerese, Tychy and Bursa were affected. Opel output was not, according to Automobilwoche.
According to CNNMoney, a Unicredit equity research note said the suspension could result in the loss of 670 vehicles a day, or EUR8m in daily sales.
