GM to idle more auto plants in N America due to chip shortage

HOUSTON (ICIS)–General Motors (GM) is idling three automobile plants and extending shutdowns on two more because of a shortage of semiconductors, the US-based auto producer said on Thursday.

A sixth plant, Wentzille Assembly in Wentzille, Missouri, will resume production in the week of 12 April, GM said. The plant has been down since 29 March. It makes mid-size trucks.

GM will take down its Spring Hill plant for two weeks starting on 12 April. It makes the Cadillac XT5, the Cadillac XT6 and the GMC Acadia.

The Lansing Delta Township plant in Michigan will go down for the week of 19 April. It makes the Chevrolet Traverse and the Buick Enclave.

The Ramos Assembly plant in Mexico will suspend production of the Chevrolet Blazer for one week starting on 19 April. The suspension will not affect the production of the Chevrolet Equinox at Ramos.

The CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, in Canada and the Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas will extend their downtown through the week of 10 May. Both have been down since the week of 8 February.

Fairfax makes the Chevrolet Malibu and the Cadillac XT4. CAMI makes the Chevrolet Equinox.

Earlier, GM had taken down the Lansing Grand River Assembly plant in Michigan on 15 March. It will remain down through the week of 26 April. It makes the Chevrolet Camaro and the Cadillac CT4 and CT5.

The Bupyeong 2 Assembly plant in South Korea has been operating at half capacity since 8 February. It makes the Chevrolet Trax, Chevrolet Malibu and Buick Encore.

The Gravatai plant in Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil is taking downtime in April and May. It makes the Chevrolet Onix.

The shutdowns and curtailments caused by the semiconductor shortage do not affect any of GMs full-size trucks or full-size sports utility vehicles (SUVs), the company said.

GM is among several auto producers that have suspended or scaled back production because of the chip shortage. Others include Ford, Honda, Nissan, Sellantis and Toyota.

The automotive industry is a major global consumer of petrochemicals, which contributes more than a third of the raw material costs of an average vehicle.

Polymers used in automobiles include polypropylene (PP), polyurethanes, nylon, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), styrene acrylonitrile (SAN), polycarbonate (PC) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR).

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