For the second week in a row, the worst-case scenario for the loss of North American-built vehicles as a result of the global microchip shortage has been trimmed back.
AutoForecast Solutions, which has closely monitored the worldwide chip impact on vehicle production all year, softened its forecast for North American factory output again last week. Although the restatement is small, it provides another glimmer of hope for the industry as it steers through the long-running supply chain crisis.
AFS now estimates that North American factories will have cut 3,411,958 vehicles from their production plans this year because of the microchip shortage. That is 2,414 units fewer than the AFS estimate one week earlier. It follows a forecast improvement of 897 vehicles one week before that.
But the North American outlook has not changed the forecast for auto production elsewhere in the world. Automakers are still expected to cut about 11.3 million units from their schedules worldwide, about the same as last week.
European assembly plants took the biggest hit in the most recent forecast, adding 9,400 vehicles to their total volume of schedule reductions.
