North American automakers may fall 3mn vehicles short of initial production plans in 2021, mostly a result of global semiconductor shortages.
Consultancy AutoForecast Solutions estimates the production of 2.32mn vehicles is already lost, up by 127,000 from last week.
An additional number of vehicles that are classified as at-risk of not being built pushes the overall lost production estimate well above 3mn.
The automotive data company expects semiconductor issues for the industry to continue well into 2022, with improvements in production starting before July.
While North America is the largest region hit by production cuts, the European auto industry has also had to weather the supply shortages. AutoForecast Solutions estimates that the continent has lost 1.8mn vehicles, with close to 3mn vehicles estimated to be lost in the year.
General Motors (GM) recently announced it would run overtime shifts at six of its plants — five in the US and one in Mexico — on some weekends of November, and that it would, for the first time since February, have no plants completely shut down because of a lack of semiconductors.
