General Motors is postponing the resumption of second shifts at truck assembly plants located in Michigan, Indiana and Mexico due to a lack of parts from Mexico, a person knowledgeable about the matter said.
The automaker, which restarted production on Monday after suspending operations in March due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, will launch a second shift this week only at its Lansing Delta Township plant. It will not immediately start, as it had hoped, second shifts on Monday at its Ft Wayne, Indiana, Flint and Silao, Mexico plants that create full-size trucks, but could restart a second shift as early as this week, the source said.
Spokesman Dan Flores said “demand for our full size picks has been very strong so we are certainly exploring ways to add production and will do that when it makes sense”.
Mexican auto parts production has resumed last week to slowly resume. GM’s decision to delay restarting some production shifts shows the challenges of restarting production with thousands of suppliers.
This month, GM suppliers were told the company prepared to resume three-shift production at it Fort Wayne plant and other plants as soon as June 1.
Sales of big Detroit brand pickups, generally in southern and western states less affected by the coronavirus outbreak, have recently significantly outperformed the market, industry executives state.
Large pickups, such as Ford’s F-series line, GM’s Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra and Fiat Chrysler’s Ram, represented almost 21% of all light vehicles sold in the United States in April, Ford vice president for U.S. sales, marketing and service Mark LaNeve stated earlier this month. Normally, the pickup segment is 13% to 14% of overall sales.
