General Motors’ struggle with the semiconductor shortage continues as it extends several of the shutdowns plaguing it – and many other automakers.
The company is extending downtime at San Luis Potosi through the end of March, and at Fairfax, Kansas and its CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, to at least mid-April. Additionally, GM’s Gravatai plant in Brazil will take downtime in April and May.
“GM continues to leverage every available semiconductor to build and ship our most popular and in-demand products, including full-size trucks and SUVs for our customers,” the company said in a statement.
Trucks keep rolling
Smartly, the auto company shuffled existing supplies to keep its highly profitable truck plants running unabated. GM has not taken downtime or reduced shifts at any of its truck plants due to the shortage.
“We continue to work closely with our supply base to find solutions for our suppliers’ semiconductor requirements and to mitigate impacts on GM,” the company said in the release.
Officials said they intend to make up the lost production later in the year, wherever possible. This is the same playbook its competitors are working from these days.
Other companies dealing with shortages
Ford shut down its Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario where the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus are built because of the shortage this week. During the first quarter of 2021, Stellantis, Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, Nissan and Subaru joined GM and Ford in either adjusting production rates or implementing shutdowns due to shortages.
Analysts at the IHS Markit research firm expect the semiconductor shortage to cost the industry nearly 1 million units of production in the first quarter. The issue is expected to hit bottom at the end of March, but the supply will remain tight into the third quarter, IHS says.
AlixPartners projected recently the dearth of chips will cost the global industry $61 billion, and through the first quarter of this year, Bloomberg reported.