General Motors will shut down most of its North American plants for a week or two starting next week, as increasingly severe chip shortages have once again hit its plans.
General Motors and other automakers expected the current chip shortage to have passed by now. However, the rise in Covid cases, especially in Southeast Asia, where many chipmakers are located, has caused exasperating problems for automakers.
During the suspension, only a few GM’s plants will continue to function. These factories produce full-size pickup trucks and SUVs, as well as some sports cars like Camaro and Corvette. This is because General Motors is prioritizing its chips on hand for its most popular and profitable cars. However, the production capacity of some of its large trucks and SUVs will still be affected by the closure.
“All the announcements we made today are related to the chips shortage, the only plant down that’s not related to that, is Orion Assembly,” said GM spokesman Dan Flores, referring to that plant’s shutdown over Chevy Bolt recall issues.