GM to pause light-duty pickup production next week

DETROIT — General Motors said it will cut output at its light-duty pickup plants next week as the global microchip shortage continues to cripple production.

The plants, Fort Wayne Assembly in Indiana and Silao Assembly in Mexico, are expected to resume production of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra on Sept. 13. During the downtime, GM will complete unfinished vehicles at the plants and ship them to dealers. GM has also scheduled additional downtime at crossover and midsize pickup plants.

"These most recent scheduling adjustments are being driven by the continued parts shortages caused by semiconductor supply constraints from international markets experiencing COVID 19-related restrictions," GM spokesman Dan Flores said Thursday.

AutoForecast Solutions expects that the chip shortage could result in 8.1 million vehicles being slashed from global production plans. About 2.5 million of those are forecast to be eliminated from plants in North America.

Wentzville Assembly: The plant in Missouri will shut down Monday, with production slated to resume Sept. 20. Wentzville builds the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickups and the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size commercial vans.

CAMI Assembly in Canada and San Luis Potosi Assembly in Mexico: The plants will take two additional weeks of downtime through Oct. 1. Both plants produce the Chevy Equinox, which hasn't been built since mid-August. San Luis Potosi also builds the GMC Terrain.

Lansing Delta Township Assembly: The Michigan plant will add two weeks of downtime, with production slated for Sept. 20. It builds the Chevy Traverse and Buick Enclave.

Spring Hill Assembly: The Tennessee plant will take two more weeks of downtime, aiming to resume production Sept. 20. The plant builds the GMC Acadia and the Cadillac XT5 and XT6.

Ramos Arizpe Assembly: The Mexico plant will add two weeks of downtime for Chevy Blazer production through Sept. 17. Equinox production, which has been idled since Aug. 16, will be down through Oct. 1.