• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • The Rearview Mirror: The End of the Road for Route 66
  • Here We Go Again: Automakers Report June Sales Decline
  • Recession or Not, U.S. Car Market is in For a Big Boom
  • Hyundai Slashing Passenger Car Line-up — Again
  • Tesla, Maserati and Genesis Owner Loyalty Rising
  • Tesla Market Share Set to Collapse as EV Competition Heats Up, Predicts Leading Analyst
  • Nissan Planning to Drop Titan After 2024
  • New NHTSA Chief Ready to Crack Down on Wayward Self-Driving Technology
  • GM Avoids UAW Strike at Four Michigan Plants
  • Rising EV Prices Could Cause the Auto Market to “Collapse,” Warns Stellantis Manufacturing Chief
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe Overland
    • A Week With: 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan SE R-Line Black
    • First Drive: 2023 Cadillac Lyriq
    • First Drive: 2022 Ford Bronco Everglades Edition
    • A Week With: 2022 Mazda3 2.5 S AWD Hatchback
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda HR-V
    • First Drive: 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor
    • A Week With: 2022 GMC Terrain AT4 AWD
    • A Week With: 2022 Cadillac Escalade Sport
    • First Drive: 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > Dealers Running Dry, Even as GM Set to Halt Production for Two Weeks

        Dealers Running Dry, Even as GM Set to Halt Production for Two Weeks

        Normally busy Labor Day weekend likely to be quiet at dealerships across U.S.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        Sept. 03, 2021

        The shortage of microchips continues to drag on, forcing General Motors to idle virtually all of its North American production operations for as long as two weeks — though the automaker could yet extend this latest shutdown.

        Wentzville Assembly
        General Motors is basically shutting down its North American manufacturing operations due to the chip shortage.

        GM is just one on a long list that includes virtually every automaker hit by the shortage — and its impact is being felt just about everywhere, from Stuttgart to Detroit to Beijing.

        Industry planners hoped to put the shortages behind them by now. Barely a month ago, GM had signaled it had come up with new sources for some of the chips it needed. But that clearly didn’t meet its requirements.

        No light at the end of this tunnel

        The automaker will either close or extend closures at plants, such as the one in Wentzville, Missouri producing its Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups, another in Canada building the Chevy Equinox SUV, and the Ramos Arizpe facility in Mexico that assembles products like the Chevy Blazer SUV. All four of its North American brands will feel the heat.

        Like some of its competitors, the automaker had been partially assembling vehicles, where possible, and then storing them until it could come up with the missing chips and electronic components. So, in some instances, GM will try to take advantage of the upcoming closures. It has secured enough chips, in some cases, to let it “repair and ship unfinished vehicles,” it said in a statement.

        Wentzville Assembly
        GM’s Wentzville plant, which produces its midsize pickups, is on the list to go down.

        It was not revealed just how much production GM will lose due to the coming closures but some of those plants routinely produce more than 60 vehicles an hour on two or three shifts, many working overtime — when possible — to help rebuild inventories already drawn down as a result of last year’s pandemic closures.

        Empty lots

        Company officials indicated GM dealers now have barely half their normal stock of cars, trucks and crossovers which, this time of year, would run between 60- and 70-days’ supply.

        Among the dealers TheDetroitBureau.com talked to, some indicated they have less than 10 vehicles in stock and are not sure when they will get more, especially when it comes to popular product lines like the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.

        And they’re not alone. Toyota has barely 10 days worth of some of its most popular vehicles, like the RAV4 SUV. The automaker last month warned it would cut global production by 40% this month, so shortages could, if possible, get even worse. In recent days, Stellantis, Nissan and Ford, among others, have announced further cuts.

        GM Ramos Arizpe plant
        The company is idling its Ramos Arizpe facility in Mexico where it builds the Chevy Blazer.

        Consumers paying the price

        In turn, customers have been forced to either wait, extend their search or, in many cases, pay at or above sticker price. Some social media reports have highlighted dealer surcharges ranging anywhere from $5,000 to as much as $40,000 above MSRP.

        That helped drive average transaction prices to a record of more than $41,000 in July, according to Cox Automotive, J.D. Power and other analysts. The figure is widely expected to have run even higher in August.

        Sales for the month came in at an estimated, annualized rate of about 13.1 million, down from as high as 18.5 million earlier in the year.

        The Labor Day weekend is normally one of the busier holidays at U.S. dealer showrooms but there is little hope, according to industry insiders, that it will generate anywhere near the normal levels seen in past years.

        Recently Published

        The Rearview Mirror: The End of the Road for Route 66

        July 02, 2022
        Car dealers sales area

        Here We Go Again: Automakers Report June Sales Decline

        July 01, 2022
        Car dealership, closeup view on radiator grille

        Recession or Not, U.S. Car Market is in For a Big Boom

        July 01, 2022

        One response to “Dealers Running Dry, Even as GM Set to Halt Production for Two Weeks”

        1. Norm T says:
          September 3, 2021 at 6:12 pm

          The auto for sale website is showing +10,000 Silverado’s in inventory. Granted that is barely a week of sales in the past but GM is set to cover expenses with repaired Silverado for the few weeks.

          Reply

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2022
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: