A salesman wearing a protective mask helps a customer see General Motors Chevrolet vehicles on sale at a dealership in Grove City, Ohio, on Saturday, August 15, 2020.
Ty Wright | Bloomberg | Getty Images
General Motors has become the latest automaker hit by the global shortage of semiconductor chips, as the American automaker said on Wednesday that it will halt production next week at four automakers.
GM said it will cut production entirely during the week of February 8 at its plants in Fairfax, Kansas; Ingersoll, Ontario; and San Luis Potosi, Mexico. It will also operate its Bupyeong 2 plant in South Korea at half capacity that week.
GM did not disclose how much volume it would lose or which supplier was affected by the lack of chips, but said the focus has been on keeping production running in factories that build the highest-profit vehicles – full-size pickup trucks and SUVs, as well as the Chevrolet Corvette sports car. GM said it plans to recover as much lost production as possible.
“Despite our mitigation efforts, the scarcity of semiconductors will affect GM production in 2021,” GM spokesman David Barnas told Reuters in a statement.
“The supply of semiconductors to the global auto industry remains very fluid,” he added. “Our supply chain organization is working closely with our supply base to find solutions to our suppliers’ semiconductor requirements and to mitigate impacts on GM.”
The affected GM vehicles include the Chevrolet Malibu sedan, Cadillac XT4 SUV, Chevy Equinox and Trax and GMC Terrain SUVs and the small crossover vehicle Buick Encore.
The lack of chips has prompted several automakers, including Volkswagen AG, Ford Motor Co, Subaru Corp, Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Stellantis NV, to cut vehicle production.