DETROIT — General Motors' plan to restart most of its plants affected by the industry's microchip shortage within about a month shows that the crisis might be starting to ebb.
"It does suggest that things are improving — an early indicator that the industry maybe is starting to get on the other side of this," said Jeff Schuster, president of global forecasting at LMC Automotive.
GM last week said only one plant — Fairfax Assembly in Kansas — would remain down because of the chip shortage beyond July 5. Fairfax, which has been down since Feb. 8, builds the Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac XT4. CAMI Assembly in Ontario, which builds the Chevy Equinox and also shut down Feb. 8, is scheduled to reopen June 14 but pause for a previously scheduled two-week summer break in July. GM's midsize pickup plant in Wentzville, Mo., went offline last week until mid-July for a model-year changeover.