General Motors Co. will stop production at several factories in North America and extend the shutdown to others due to a prolonged shortage of semiconductor chips that disrupts the auto industry’s hopes of returning this year.
The automaker said Thursday that three factories previously unaffected by the chip shortage will remain idling or have reduced production for a week or two, including a factory in Tennessee and another in Michigan that make popular medium-sized vehicles. Affected vehicles include the Chevrolet Traverse SUV and the Cadillac XT5 and XT6 SUVs.
GM will also extend the closure of a plant in the Kansas City area and a plant in Ontario until May 10. Both facilities have been closed since February, as GM diverts chips from less popular models to large vans and SUVs, which is its biggest profit. manufacturers.
“GM continues to leverage every available semiconductor to build and deliver the most popular and sought-after products,” said a company spokesman. So far, GM has avoided taking downtime at the company’s four factories where it produces the company’s largest trucks and SUVs, he said.
Meanwhile, GM has said it will resume production on April 12 at a Missouri plant that manufactures medium-sized trucks and has been empty for two weeks due to a lack of chips.