According to foreign media reports, Stellaantis said its Jeep factory in Illinois will lay off more than 1,600 employees. This move shows that the chip shortage is intensifying and is currently causing more lasting damage to the automotive industry.

Stellantis said it will cut the second shift at the Belvidere plant before July 26, which will affect as many as 1,671 employees. The company said in an e-mail statement that the shift is to balance Jeep Cherokee's sales and production. Stellantis said that the decline in Liberty's SUV production is "intensified by the unprecedented global shortage of microchips."

As the United States gradually gets rid of the epidemic blockade and people are more inclined to purchase private transportation, the supply of vehicles has been in short supply. However, Freedom Light is not the beneficiary. Last year, sales of this model in the United States plummeted 29% to 191,397 units. During the epidemic, the overall delivery volume of the Jeep brand also dropped by 14%.

In addition, the Japanese brand Infiniti also announced that it will suspend production of the QX50 compact crossover due to a shortage of chip supply. It is reported that Infiniti's plant in Aguascalientes will suspend production of QX50 models in June.

The company’s spokesperson confirmed the news and pointed out that starting next month, the company’s factory in Japan will also suspend production of the Q50 sedan. The spokesperson said: “We will continue to work closely with our supplier partners to assess the impact of supply chain issues and minimize the impact on retailers and customers.”

The QX50 is Infiniti’s best-selling model, and its sales in the first quarter accounted for about one-third of Infiniti’s total sales in the US market. Tim Dahle Infiniti is an Infiniti distributor located in Salt Lake City. The company's executive Dallas Fox predicts that QX50 inventory will be exhausted in mid-June and will not be replenished until July. He said: "We may not have a good time this summer."