Engines assembled as they make their way through the assembly line at General Motors (GM) plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, August 22, 2019.
Harrison McClary | Reuters
DETROIT – General Motors is restarting production faster than expected at a crossover facility in Tennessee after improving supplies of the semiconductor chips needed to produce vehicles at the facility.
The automaker’s Spring Hill Assembly plant will return to regular production on Monday instead of April 26, a week earlier than initially announced by the company Thursday. The facility builds the crossovers GMC Acadia and Cadillac XT5 and XT6.
A GM spokesperson attributed the schedule change to short-term improvements in inventories, which allowed the carmaker to avoid the production impact on the plant. The United Auto Workers union notified Spring Hill’s more than 2,800 hourly workers on Tuesday of the change in plans.
The company is also not stopping production of the Chevrolet Blazer at a factory in Mexico next week, announced last week due to the shortage of chips. Other plant closures due to parts disruption in Michigan, Kansas and Canada remain unchanged.
“Following our announcement last Thursday, April 8, GM’s supply chain organization has made progress by working with our supply base to mitigate the short-term effects of the semiconductor situation on both Spring Hill Assembly and Ramos Assembly,” GM said in a statement per e -mail.
Motorists have identified the chip shortage as fluid. GM, Ford Motor and others have said the deficit will cut billions in their revenues by 2021.
Semiconductors are key components in the automotive sector, used in infotainment, power steering and braking systems, among others. With several factories closed last year due to Covid, suppliers sent semiconductors away from automakers to other industries, creating a shortage after consumer demand returned stronger than expected. The parts can contain different sizes and types of chips.
The change in fortune for GM, while unrelated, comes a day after CEO Mary Barra and other automotive, tech and miscellaneous business leaders met with President Joe Biden to discuss the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage.
Following the meeting, GM, Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) and a Detroit auto makers lobby group issued statements saying they were grateful that Biden’s government held the meeting and made the issue a priority. They said they look forward to working with Biden to resolve the shortage, as well as provide long-term guarantees for the supply of such parts.