Automakers are expanding and expanding production cuts at some North American plants as they cope with a worsening global shortage of semiconductors.
Chips for use in cars and trucks have been more difficult to come by as semiconductor manufacturers have allocated more capacity to consumer products. The pandemic has spurred orders for smartphones, televisions and computers as people seek to make longer home lives more tolerable, leaving less capacity for a stronger-than-expected recovery in vehicle demand. The recent weather-related disruptions to petrochemical supplies in the southern United States and a fire at a chip manufacturing facility in Japan have exacerbated the shutdowns.
Advisor AlixPartners said the chip shortage could cost automakers $ 61 billion in lost revenue this year. The recent setbacks could further delay an expected production recovery in the second quarter. “Production does not shrink and not increase, so the balance between supply and demand only worsens,” said Takeshi Miyao, an analyst at researcher Carnorama.
The biggest auto companies aren’t the only ones coming under pressure from the chip crisis. Truckmaker Paccar Inc. announced on March 31st that deliveries had been reduced by around 3,000 vehicles in the first quarter.
Here is the current situation for major automakers in North America.
April 8: General Motors plans to resume production at a Wentzville, Missouri facility in the week of April 12th. The Spring Hill, Tennessee facility will be shut down in the weeks of April 12th and April 19th. A facility near Lansing, Michigan will shut down production for the week of April 19th. Another plant in Lansing will extend its downtime until the week of April 26th.
GM’s CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario and the Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas are extending downtime through the week of May 10th. In Mexico, the Ramos assembly plant will be down in the week of April 19th. Only production of the Chevrolet Blazer sport-utility vehicle will be affected, the company said.
March 24: The Wentzville plant, which produces the mid-size Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon trucks, is slated to be down for two weeks from March 29. GM added two weeks of downtime to its Lansing Grand River facility. The factory that makes the Cadillac CT4 and CT5, as well as the Chevrolet Camaro, idled on March 15.
As of the week of April 5th, GM’s assembly plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, which has been out of service since February 8th, was scheduled to restart with two shifts. The factory makes the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain.
March 3: The automaker said its Gravatai, Brazil plant would experience downtime in April and May.
April 8: In the week of April 12, Ford closes an SUV plant in Chicago that is building the Explorer model, the Mustang plant in Michigan and the transit van line at its assembly facility in Kansas City, Missouri become.
Ford is also canceling the traditional two-week summer hiatus at six factories in the US to make up for the lost production due to chip shortages. The automaker is planning the highest summer production in more than 15 years.
March 31: The automaker said its F-150 facility in Dearborn, Michigan would be out of service for the week of April 5th and 12th. Truck operations in Kansas City were due to cease in the week of April 5th. Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky was scheduled to be closed for the weeks of April 12th and 19th, and the Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario, Canada will be closed for the weeks of April 12th, 19th and 26th.
Ford also canceled some overtime shifts at several plants as late as June.
March 22: The company ceases production at a commercial vehicle facility in Avon Lake, Ohio, and plans to resume production on March 29. Ford also dropped a shift through March 29 at a Kentucky truck plant that makes vehicles including the F-250 pickup truck and Expedition SUVs.
March 21: Ford cancels an extra shift at its Kentucky truck factory.
March 18: The automaker canceled two-day night shifts at another Louisville assembly plant – where the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair are made – due to the US winter storm in February and chip shortages.
April 8: The automaker said in an emailed statement that its manufacturing facilities in Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas, West Virginia and Mexico have been impacted “due to Covid and recent severe weather events”. The Tundra full-size truck production line at their San Antonio, Texas facility is still idle, it said.
March 22: An unspecified petrochemical shortage impacted production of 10 models at plants in Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas, West Virginia, and Mexico. Performance has been limited for Toyota’s Camry, Camry Hybrid, Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus ES 350, Lexus ES 300h, Tundra, Tacoma and Corolla.
March 17: A petrochemical shortage hampered production at the automaker’s facilities in Kentucky, West Virginia and Mexico, according to a spokesman who failed to provide details.
April 1: The automaker said it would resume normal performance in all vehicle, engine and transmission plants in North America.
Mar 22: Honda said its purchasing and manufacturing teams were working to “limit the impact of this situation and adjust production as needed,” the company said in an email, without further elaboration.
March 17: The automaker ceases production at some plants in the United States and Canada, including factories in Alabama, Indiana, Ohio and Ontario, blaming its supply chain for the impact of the pandemic, chip shortages and severe winter weather.
March 26: According to a company spokesman, the automaker plans to shut down five factories in North America from March 29 through early to mid-April. Facilities include a warehouse in Warren, Michigan; a Jeep Cherokee sports utility vehicle plant in Belvidere, Illinois; a Jeep Compass SUV factory in Toluca, Mexico; a muscle car facility in Brampton, Ontario; and a minivan manufacturing facility in Windsor, Ontario.
March 25: The union that represents workers in Windsor said in a tweet that the minivan plant would be out of service for a month, and Warren and Saltillo, Mexico will be affected “for a few weeks”.
March 25: The Japanese automaker plans to resume production on March 26 at a plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico, one week after production has ceased.
March 23: Nissan resumed an assembly line at a Canton, Mississippi plant and a production line at a Smyrna, Tennessee plant, both of which were discontinued March 19.
March 22: Nissan resumes production on another assembly line in Canton that has not been operational since March 20.
March 22: BMW “Production in North America remains unaffected,” the company announced in an email.
Feb. 8: The electric vehicle maker said in a 10K release that “the increased demand for personal electronics has led to a shortage of microchips and it is not yet known how we might be affected.”
February 5: The Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, went “as planned,” said a Daimler spokesman.
February 5: The South Korean automaker said in a statement that it is “closely monitoring the situation and working with our supplier partners to maintain stable production.”
