North American auto losses deepen

Lost automotive vehicle production deepened in the last week as the end of the year approaches and automakers run out of time to make up for earlier losses.

The production of 848,000 vehicles is expected to be lost in North America this year, up by 97,000 vehicles from the prior week, according to estimates from AutoForecast Solutions.

The losses could get worse in the coming weeks as another 500,000 vehicles are listed as at-risk.

Shortages of semiconductors and other parts are the primary culprits for the losses, which are on track to be a little more than half of the 2.29mn vehicles lost in 2021, when the industry began losing production to semiconductor shortages.

By Rye Druzin