The company announced it would shut production at two US plants — in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and Lansing Delta Township, Michigan, in the coming weeks. GM also extended shutdowns at the Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, and the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, which have both been idled since February 8. And it will continue the shutdown at the Lansing Grand River assembly plant, which has been down since March 15.
In addition, GM is halting Chevrolet Blazer production at the Ramos Assembly plant in Ramos, Mexico, during the week of April 19, although that plant will continue to build the Chevy Equinox.
GM is bringing some plants back online as it tries to avoid shortages of certain vehicles in its dealer inventories. The assembly plant in Wentzville, Ohio, which makes midsize pickup trucks, will resume production this coming Monday. It has been down since March 29. And this past Monday, the plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, restarted production of Equinox and GMC Terrain.
“We are seeing levels of … inventory tightness that goes beyond anything we have ever seen,” wrote Morgan Stanley auto analyst Adam Jonas in a note to clients Thursday. He said that for some vehicles, customers are having to pay above sticker price, rather than less than sticker price.
GM has already warned that full-year income could be cut by between $1.5 billion to $2 billion because of the chip shortage. It said these latest plant shutdown plans are in line with that earlier profit guidance.