Engines assembled as they move through the assembly line at the General Motors (GM) plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, on August 22, 2019.
Harrison McClary | Reuters
DETROIT – General Motors begins production sooner than expected at a crossover plant in Tennessee, after stockpiling the semiconductor chips needed to make vehicles at the factory.
The carmaker’s Spring Hill Assembly factory will return to normal production on Monday instead of April 26, a week earlier than the company initially announced on Thursday. The plant builds the GMC Acadia and Cadillac XT5 and XT6 crossovers.
A GM spokesman attributed the change in scheduling to short-term improvements in inventory, which allowed the automaker to avoid the production impact at the plant. The United Auto Workers union notified Spring Hill’s more than 2,800 hourly workers Tuesday of the change in plans.
The company will also not stop production of the Chevrolet Blazer next week at a plant in Mexico, which was announced last week due to the shortage of chips. Other plant closures due to parts outages in Michigan, Kansas and Canada remain unchanged.
“Following our announcement last Thursday, April 8, GM’s supply chain organization has made progress in collaborating with our inventory base to mitigate the effects of the semiconductor situation at the Spring Hill meeting and the Ramos meeting in the short term,” he said. GM said in an email statement.
Car drivers described the shortage of chips as liquid. GM, Ford Motor and others have said the deficit will reduce their earnings in 2021.
Semiconductors are key components in the car that are used in infotainment, power steering and braking systems, among others. As several plants closed last year due to Covid, suppliers have targeted semiconductors from automakers to other industries, creating a shortage after consumer demand fell more sharply than expected. The parts can contain different sizes and types of chips.
The prosperous change for GM, although unrelated, comes a day after CEO Mary Barra and other business leaders from the automotive, technology and a variety of sectors met with President Joe Biden to address the continuing shortage of semiconductor discuss slides.
Following the meeting, GM, Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) and a lobby group for the Detroit automakers issued statements saying they were grateful that Biden’s government held the meeting and that the matter was a priority. They said they look forward to helping Biden resolve the shortage, as well as long-term measures for the delivery of such parts.