NorthAm unrecoverable auto count ticks up

The number of vehicles that will not be built in North America because of semiconductor and other material shortages ticked up in the last week.

At least 750,000 fewer vehicles are expected to be built at North American factories in 2021 because of material shortages impacting production, according to estimates by AutoForecast Solutions.

That figure is a rise of 50,000 from the week before and is more than triple the 230,000 vehicles the company estimated would be lost as of mid-April.

North American automakers have suffered from supply shortages since January, when many began reporting that a lack of semiconductors — the chips used in many vehicles and personal electronic devices — was forcing them to curtail production.

A February winter storm in Texas exacerbated the issues by shutting down petrochemical production, leading to further shortages of foam and other products used in vehicles.

Kia reported this week that it would cancel its third shift at its Georgia plant for the week of 14-18 June, while Honda continues to report impacts to its North American plants.

Other automakers have made progress toward recovering some production. General Motors (GM) will increase output of its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks by 1,000 trucks a month beginning in mid-July. Shipments of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickup trucks will increase by 30,000 units from mid-May through 5 July as vehicles that had been partially built are fully fitted with semiconductors.

Other US-based GM plants will forgo their traditional summer shutdowns.

Ford has multiple shutdowns scheduled to end on 14 June, and says it has no further updates at this time as to whether those closures will continue or not. Some of those plant idlings include production of its best selling and steel- and aluminum-intensive F-150 full-size pickup truck.

By Rye Druzin