A statement from General Motors suggests the chip shortage that has crippled vehicle production may be easing.
GM has said in a statement that it plans to increase Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra production by about 1,000 trucks a month, starting in mid-July.
The company credits production-line efficiencies at Flint Assembly with the uptick.
Meanwhile, the General is touting a 30,000 unit (total) increase in shipments of Chevy Colorados and GMC Canyons at Wentzville in Missouri from the middle of May until July 5 as it conducts testing on units that were held back by the semiconductor shortage.
The company says shipments of other vehicles should increase, and it also says no American assembly plants that were hit hard by supply disruptions will take any “dedicated” downtime for vacation.
Consequently, GM also expects better first-half financial results than it had originally forecast.
“The global semiconductor shortage remains complex and very fluid, but the speed, agility and commitment of our team, including our dealers, has helped us find creative ways to satisfy customers,” said Phil Kienle, GM vice president, North America Manufacturing and Labor Relations, in the statement. “Customer demand continues to be very strong, and GM’s engineering, supply chain and manufacturing teams have done a remarkable job maximizing production of high-demand and capacity-constrained vehicles.”
GM will have a call to discuss second-quarter results on August 4.
First COVID, then chips. Maybe this time the automakers really will be past all the obstacles that caused production delays.
Or maybe all those UFO sightings will really be the result of aliens and we’ll be right back where we started. “What else can go wrong” does seem to the theme of the past year and a half, after all.
[Image: GM]
This fall, GM will still hold its annual truck flush event (up to $9000 cash back!), complete with a 3-5 week shutdown due to overbuilding.
With DoD failures on LS engines, who would want these things?
Pretty sure that was a last decade issue solved around 2011-2012.
Will freely admit that the DoD stuff from 2006 to 2010-2011 was trash.
Had the top end rebuilt on my G8 GT under TSB no charge.
Have a 2011 GMT900 Avalanche with the 5.3 and 121K miles – zero lifter issues or oil consumption issues.
Flint Assy is for HD pig ups. (as of 2019- may have changed.)
Not my thing – but good luck
I bet they wish they could get C8 production numbers up… they just stopped taking 2021 orders because they can’t meet demand.
I saw one in light blue today. So much better looking in the wild.
Saw a black convertible last weekend in the wild – gorgeous car. For $59K base it is a shit ton of car for the money.
$5K adds the Z-51 package – it is pretty flippin’ wow.
My local Chevy dealer looks like a Costco parking lot at midnight. 1 Colorado and Canyon and a 1/2 dozen full-sized trucks that don’t look like a fleet order. Normally they have over 100 pickups in stock.
Same – Ford, GMC, and Chevy dealerships are pretty darn empty – the Ford dealership has probably the “best’ inventory and that isn’t saying much.
The Nissan dealership on the other hand…
The GMC lots around here are EMPTY. A handful of trucks on either end of the spectrum – base models or fully loaded. Nothing for volume models.
The only dealership I’m seeing stacked with vehicles on my route is Nissan – looks like business as usual (and to a lesser extent Hyundai)
Our local Nissan dealership has Rogue’s parked off site at a abandoned resturant parking lot. Through a sign on the building and they could sell thr 50 or so cars right from there.
GM and Ford dealers around me have a handful of trucks and those have been put in the front of the lot. A couple of Ford dealerships are still advertising deals on new 2020 Fusions, Escapes, and Ecosports with low interest or no interest financing from Ford. Seems those vehicles are not moving as fast and there is more room for negotiating a discount. There are no advertised discounts on pickups and larger suvs.
I don’t know why anyone would buy an Ecosport.
If I was at the rental counter and it was Ecosport or an LS Trax, I’d grit my teeth and take the Trax. I wouldn’t be happy, but I’d still pick the Trax.
Agree the fact that Ford dealers have been advertising new 2020s with discounts and special financing is an indication that the Ecosport is not selling. The Fusion though is a decent car but then cars are not as popular as suvs, crossovers, and pickups.
Here in the heart of GM country, the lots are empty …
In better news.. GM Oshawa truck is almost ready to go. Two production shifts training now .Latest word is ..Saleable trucks in the fourth quarter. !