GM cutting production further due to chip shortage

General Motors is cutting production at eight of its plants in North America because of semiconductor chip shortages.

The company announced on Thursday that it is adding or expanding downtimes at eight of its plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico because of the chip shortages.

“These most recent scheduling adjustments are being driven by the continued parts shortages caused by semiconductor supply constraints from international markets experiencing COVID 19-related restrictions,” General Motors said in a statement to The Hill on Thursday.

The majority of the cuts will last for two weeks. Production of the Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500 full-size pickup trucks in Indiana and Mexico, however, will resume after a week of being idle beginning Sept. 13.

The Chevrolet, GMC midsize pickup trucks and vans in Missouri and the Chevrolet Trailblazer in Mexico will be impacted by the production cuts. Additionally, crossover production across North America will be impacted. 

“Although the situation remains complex and very fluid, we remain confident in our team’s ability to continue finding creative solutions to minimize the impact on our highest-demand and capacity-constrained vehicles,” General Motors said.

The news of the GM production cuts comes after the company announced in July that while it was reaching its production targets, a number of plants would have to be idled because of a shortage of semiconductor chips.

The entire auto industry is suffering a massive chip shortage, which has forced automakers to reduce their production.

CNBC reported in May that the shortage was expected to cost the auto industry $110 billion in revenue in 2021.

Last month, GM said it anticipated production to decrease by roughly 100,000 vehicles in North America in the second half of the year compared to the initial six months of 2021, according to the business news channel.

While the company does not make production data public, it did sell around 1.3 million cars in North America in the first half of the year, CNBC reported.

A group of Democratic senators called on Taiwan for more help with the automobile chip shortage, asking for more assistance in addressing the issue.

–Updated 5:18 p.m.