PARIS -- Stellantis said it will replace digital speedometers with more old-fashioned analogue ones in its Peugeot 308 model, in a fallout from a global shortage of semiconductor chips that is hitting the auto industry.
"It's a nifty and agile way of getting around a real hurdle for car production, until the 'chips' crisis ends," a spokesman for Stellantis told Reuters.
Manufacturing of Peugeot 308 cars had already been disrupted at the group's French factory of Sochaux due to the shortage in recent months. The lack of semiconductors has caused temporary halts and production cutbacks globally at automakers from Ford to Volkswagen Group.
The COVID-19 pandemic drove up demand for semiconductor chips for use in electronics such as computers, as people worked from home, and suppliers are struggling to adjust.
The traditional speedometers on Peugeot 308 cars should start appearing in vehicles by the end of May, the company said, while Stellantis is keeping chips for digital dashboards on its most popular models, such as the Peugeot 3008 SUV.
The current Peugeot 308 is due to be phased out in the autumn, and the next generation will be produced with digital speedometers at a different factory, in Mulhouse.
Peugeot sold around 98,000 of its 308 models last year.
French news channel LCI said Peugeot was mulling a 400-euro discount on cars with the analogue speedometers. Stellantis declined to comment.
