ROME, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Stellantis will extend to the whole of next week the current production stoppage at its Fiat 500 factory in Turin, northern Italy, the Franco-Italian automaker and the FIOM trade union said on Thursday.
• The November 9-13 extension marks the fourth consecutive week of no production at the historic Mirafiori plant
• The first two weeks, which began in mid-October, were caused by weak demand, a Stellantis spokesperson said
• The shutdown for this and next week is linked to a shortage of electronic components, specifically chips used in engine control units, the spokesperson added
• Union officials have pointed at weak demand for the Fiat 500 city car as the continuing reason for the stoppage
• Gianni Mannori of the FIOM metalworkers' union said that blaming the shortage of components was "an alibi"
• Last week Stellantis said the shortage in engine control units was causing "significant" disruption to the Italian production of the Fiat 500 and Fiat Pandina models
(Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Alvise Armellini)