General Motors will resume full-size pickup production Monday, as planned, after cutting output this week due to the global microchip shortage, the automaker said Wednesday. But six other North American plants will take additional downtime, including Fairfax Assembly, which has been idled for nearly six months.
GM’s pickup plants — Flint Assembly in Michigan, Silao Assembly in Mexico and Fort Wayne Assembly in Indiana — will restart full production Monday. Flint had been operating on only one shift this week, and Fort Wayne and Silao were idled.
The chip shortage has hampered production for GM and other automakers since early this year. GM has prioritized chips for its lucrative full-size pickup and SUV segments over crossovers and sedans. AutoForecast Solutions estimates that the chip crisis has reduced North America vehicle production by 1.8 million vehicles so far. It projects the total impact could reach 2.1 million.
GM scheduled additional downtime at six other plants:
Lansing Delta Township, Spring Hill, Ramos Arizpe assembly plants: Each of the plants will take an additional week of downtime. GM expects production to restart Aug. 2 after shutting down July 19. Ramos, in Mexico, builds the Chevrolet Blazer and Equinox. Spring Hill, in Tennessee, builds the Cadillac XT5 and XT6 and the GMC Acadia. Lansing Delta Township, in Michigan, builds the Chevy Traverse and the Buick Enclave.
San Luis Potosi Assembly: The plant in Mexico will add three more weeks of downtime and is now scheduled to resume production Aug. 23. The plant has been down since July 19. It builds the Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain.
Lansing Grand River Assembly: GM plans to resume production at the Michigan plant Aug. 30, two weeks later than planned. Production of the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 sedans at the plant has been down since May 10. Production of the Chevy Camaro, also built at Lansing Grand River, will not be impacted.
Fairfax Assembly: The Kansas City plant will take an additional four weeks of downtime. It was expected to resume production Aug. 23. Now Cadillac XT4 production is scheduled to restart Sept. 20, but Chevrolet Malibu production will remain idled, GM said. Fairfax has been down since Feb. 8.
