Fiat Chrysler may have to stop production at one of its European facilities due to disruption to its Chinese supply chain.
The Financial Times has reported that production in the facility could be suspended before the end of February.
This comes after several international car companies have reported disruption to their operations following a restriction in the supply of key parts in order to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Read more: Chinese car sales tumble again in 2019
Chief executive Mike Manley told the FT: “We’ve got one high risk supply at the moment that we have identified.”
The company now has a dedicated team in place in order to monitor the the status of supply chains and seek alternative sources if necessary.
The full extent of the situation should be known in two to four weeks and this news came on the day the company posted a record 19 per cent fall in profit to €2.7b despite a recovery in the final quarter.
Meanwhile Volvo also enjoyed a successful fourth quarter of 2019 with an 23 per cent rise in addition to the 10 per cent increase across the whole year.
This was driven by cost reductions and strong demand for its SUV range.
The Gothenburg-based carmaker, which Geely acquired from Ford in 2010, reported operating earnings of 5.29bn Swedish crowns (£425.4m) as revenues rose 8.4 per cent to 79.2bn Swedish crowns.
Sales of Volvos rose nearly 10% in 2019 – with growth of 23.4% in the fourth quarter alone – as increases in China and the United States also gave a boost.
Chief executive Hakan Samuelsson said: “This is a result of continued strong growth in volume, especially in SUVs, as well as cost efficiency measurements initiated early in 2019.”
The automotive sector is currently trying to adapt to the widespread use of electric cars as part of a drive to reduce carbon emissions.
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