Much of the focus on automakers being forced to shut down plants due to semiconductor shortages has been focused on U.S. facilities; however, Mexico hasn’t been exempted from the semiconductor scarcity and some of its automotive plants have been sputtering.
General Motors just restarted production at its plant in the state of San Luis Potosí after being forced to shut down for two months, said Teresa Cid, GM spokesperson. This plant produces the GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Equinox SUVs, as well as the subcompact Chevrolet Onix sedan which is not sold in the U.S.
It’s not all is good news for GM Mexico, because as of April 19, it will interrupt production of its Chevrolet Blazer SUV for a week at its Ramos Arizpe plant, in the state of Coahuila. However, Equinox production will continue.
Other automakers’ plans
Stellantis has been forced to operate under the “Build and Hold” scheme for its production line of the Ram 1500 Classic at its Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant, in the state of Coahuila, according to Stellantis spokesperson Miguel Ceballos.
“When the component that requires the chip becomes available, we will complete the build, then perform extensive quality verifications before shipping finished trucks to dealers,” Ceballos said.
VW saw production of its Jetta affected by the semiconductor crisis, as production has been interrupted since the week of March 23 but is planned to resume April 20, said Mauricio Kuri, VW spokesperson.
Mazda, Ford and BMW have experienced no problems due to the chip shortage whatsoever.
Japanese automakers suffering
Toyota halted production on its plants at the states of Baja California and Guanajuato from March 15–17, but production resumed on March 18. No interruptions on production have happened at these plants since, but Toyota is monitoring the situation on a daily basis, according to Toyota spokesperson Marisol Blanco.
Honda stopped production temporarily at its plant in Celaya, in the state of Guanajuato, which produces the HR-V crossover, on March 18. Production resumed April 5 and “the company´s purchasing and production departments are carefully managing supply of components to maintain operation at levels as close as possible to normal,” said Fernando Maqueo, Honda spokesman.
Nissan was affected at one of its facilities in the state of Aguascalientes. In the plant Nissan named “Aguascalientes 1” that produces the March hatchback, Versa sedan and Kicks crossover, production stopped March 22–23.
The site restarted March 24, but was interrupted again for six days in April, restarting again April 12, said Nissan spokesperson Ariadna Lopez.
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