Nissan plans Mexico work stoppages in October due to chip shortage

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Japanese automaker Nissan will carry out temporary work stoppages at two Mexican plants for several days in October because of production adjustments needed to manage a shortage of semiconductor chips, its Mexico unit said on Wednesday.

Nissan will halt operations at its plant 2 in the central state of Aguascalientes for 11 days in October, and its CIVAC plant in Morelos state will be halted for 8 days, the carmaker said in emailed comments to Reuters.

The stoppages come as automotive production in Brazil and Mexico, Latin America's two largest economies, plunged in September, dragged down by an industry-wide semiconductor chip shortage and railroad blockades in Mexico.

"We continue to make adjustments to our production process to minimize the impact this has had on the automotive industry locally and globally," said Nissan, adding it was working to recover production and make good on delivery of vehicles to distributors and customers.

(Reporting by Sharay Angulo; Writing by Anthony Esposito)