General Motors extends vehicle production cuts due to chip shortage

General Motors said on Tuesday it was extending production cuts at three North American plants until at least mid-March due to the worldwide semiconductor chip shortage, while vehicles at two other plants would only be partially built.

Ford Motor also said Tuesday that it was in limited cases parking partly assembled vehicles because of the chip shortage.

GM, whose shares declined 1.1% after the announcement, did not reveal the impact on volumes or say which provider and automobile parts were affected by the chip shortage.

But it said it would concentrate on keeping production running at plants building its highest-profit vehicles: full-size pickup trucks and SUVs. GM said it aimed to make up as much lost production as possible once the shortage chip eased.

“Semiconductor supply remains an issue that is facing the entire industry,” GM spokesman David Barnas said. “GM’s plan is to leverage every available semiconductor to build and ship our most popular and in-demand products.”

The automaker said it was extending downtime at its American plant in Fairfax, Kansas; its Canadian factory in Ingersoll, Ontario; and its Mexican facility in San Luis Potosi until mid-March when it would reassess the situation, he said.

Furthermore, GM said it would build but leave incomplete for final assembly automobiles at Wentzville, Missouri, and its Mexican plant at Ramos Arizpe.

GM vehicles affected by the idled plants such as the Chevrolet Malibu sedan, Cadillac XT4 SUV, Chevy Equinox, and GMC Terrain SUVs. Vehicles to be left incomplete for now included the Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon pickups and Chevy Blazer SUV.

This week, GM had said it was idling the three plants where it has now extended downtime and said it would halve production at a factory in South Korea.