Several General Motors truck factories will fall silent in the coming weeks. It’s not due to a worldwide shortage of microchips (that was last year). It’s not due to a strike (that, if it comes, will probably be next month).
Instead, the Detroit Free Press reports, “General Motors will halt production of its popular pickup trucks due to parts shortages, but it is not specifying which parts it needs.”
A GM spokesperson wouldn’t tell us which parts were undersupplied but clarified, “I can confirm this is not related to semiconductors.”
Production of GM’s best-selling product, the Chevy Silverado, and its GMC Sierra twin will not come to a global halt. GM builds its full-size truck in five plants worldwide. But it will slow as the company’s Ft. Wayne Assembly factory in Indiana closes for the week of Aug. 28. The Silao, Mexico, plant that builds the truck has also been down for two weeks, the Free Press reports.
The Missouri plants that build the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize trucks will drop from one shift to three for the week of August 28 due to the same issue.
The slowdown shouldn’t cause a shortage of new trucks for sale or push prices up in the short term. Kelley Blue Book numbers show the company with a healthy stockpile of all the affected trucks ready for distribution, so the GM can probably absorb a week of low production.
But the Free Press notes that “GM and Stellantis have been increasing inventory in the last couple of months in preparation for a possible strike by the United Auto Workers.” If a strike drags on, dealers could sell down that stockpile, and prices begin to rise due to a truck shortage.
