Automakers held back on further production schedule cuts last week in their ongoing adjustment to global microchip shortages.
AutoForecast Solutions said that as of midweek last week, the Thanksgiving break left schedules unchanged from a week earlier.
“It’s very hard to be optimistic about any of this,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president for global vehicle forecasting at AFS. “But at the moment, we’ve seen a slowing in the level of new factory production cuts.
“Manufacturers’ efforts to identify new chip sources … their moves to focus on their most popular models, and their success in building vehicles without some of the electronic features that require chips — it’s all having a positive effect,” he said.
But Fiorani predicted more cuts are likely into the first weeks of 2022.
