Vans come off the meeting line at GM’s Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup truck plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, July 25, 2018.
John Gress | Reuters
DETROIT – General Motors will halt pickup truck manufacturing at a manufacturing facility in Indiana for 2 weeks subsequent month on account of an ongoing scarcity of semiconductor chips that has wreaked havoc on the worldwide automotive business for greater than a 12 months.
The availability of chips, that are crucial elements for brand spanking new autos, was anticipated to steadily enhance for automakers all through this 12 months, however different issues within the provide chain, together with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, have clouded such expectations.
GM President Mark Reuss lately advised CNBC that chip provides had been “getting a little bit higher” however the disaster was not over. “We’re not by means of this,” he mentioned final week. “We’re doing the very best we will.”
GM’s Fort Fort Wayne, Ind. plant can be down the weeks of April 4 and April 11, the corporate introduced Friday. The power produces extremely worthwhile Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup vans.
Automakers have been prioritizing chips each time attainable for his or her most high-demand and worthwhile autos. Particularly, pickup vans and huge SUVs for the Detroit automakers.
“General, we’ve seen higher consistency in semiconductor provide by means of the primary quarter in comparison with final 12 months as a complete. This has translated into enchancment in our manufacturing and deliveries in the course of the first three months of the 12 months,” GM mentioned in a press release Friday. “Nevertheless, there may be nonetheless uncertainty and unpredictability within the semiconductor provide base, and we’re actively working with our suppliers to mitigate potential points transferring ahead.”
GM additionally produces Silverado and Sierra pickups at crops in Mexico and Canada. It produces bigger heavy-duty variations in Flint, Mich.