For the first time in months, North American assembly plants did not add vehicles to their long list of production schedule cuts caused by the global microchip shortage, according to the latest weekly estimate by AutoForecast Solutions.
Factories in Europe, China, South America, the Middle East and Africa also held firm on their production plans, AFS reports. But the global total of vehicle cuts nonetheless rose by about 26,400 units because of chip shortages affecting assembly lines in Asia, outside of China.
Despite the sudden leveling off, after a year and a half of production trims, the shortage is still widely expected to continue denting schedules for the remainder of the year — and beyond.
“The supply of automotive-grade semiconductors continues to hamper global output of trucks and passenger cars, even if the short-term losses do not seem to reflect this slowdown,” Sam Fiorani, AFS vice president of global vehicle forecasting, said in an email.
