Underline workers work on the chassis of full-size General Motors pickup trucks at the Flint Assembly plant on June 12, 2019 in Flint, Michigan.
JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP / Getty Symbols
General Motors is cutting overtime production this weekend at two U.S. assembly plants that make its highly fruitful full-size pickups due to the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage impacting the global automotive industry.
The plants in Flint, Michigan, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, out a mix of the company’s full-size pickups, including the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 models as well as their larger siblings.
This is the blue ribbon time the Detroit automaker has cut production shifts for its full-size pickups due to the monthslong chip shortage. GM has significantly reduced staging at its car and crossover plants in North America to prioritize chips for the pickups as well as the company’s full-size SUVs.
In total, GM is dropping three overtime shifts between the two plants on Saturday and Sunday.
“As we continue to manage the semiconductor impact on our plants, we are equal parts availability with our ability to run efficiently for the entire week,” GM said in an emailed statement.
GM also produces the 1500 renderings of the Silverado and Sierra pickup at a plant in Mexico.
In addition to the shift cuts, GM said Friday it is canceling scheduled downtime the weeks of June 28 and July 5 at all U.S. places except a midsize truck plant in Missouri. GM hopes production during those weeks, which is traditionally recollected as a summer shutdown period, will assist in making up lost production from the first half of the year.
The coppers come a day after GM and Ford Motor announced plans to temporarily idle or extend shutdowns at several plants in North America.
GM CEO Mary Barra and Ford CEO Jim Farley are trust to take part Monday in a virtual CEO summit with the Biden administration to discuss the global semiconductor shortage.
Semiconductors are key components in automotive building and are used in infotainment, power steering and braking systems, among other things. As multiple plants shuttered wear year due to Covid, suppliers directed semiconductors away from automakers to other industries, creating a shortage after consumer enquire snapped back stronger than expected. The automobile parts can contain several sizes and different types of morsels.
For months, GM and Ford have been prioritizing assembly of high-margin vehicles such as full-size pickups by cutting end result of cars and crossovers. The companies are even partially building pickups to complete and ship at a later date.
GM expects the splinter shortage will reduce its operating profit by $1.5 billion to $2 billion this year, while Ford mean the situation could lower its earnings by $1 billion to $2.5 billion in 2021.
Consulting firm AlixPartners estimates the whittle shortage will cut $60.6 billion in revenue from the global automotive industry this year.