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Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra pickup production slammed as chip shortage continues

There will be fewer shifts, and even plants going idle amid too few chips.

Sean Szymkowski
It all started with Gran Turismo. From those early PlayStation days, Sean was drawn to anything with four wheels. Prior to joining the Roadshow team, he was a freelance contributor for Motor Authority, The Car Connection and Green Car Reports. As for what's in the garage, Sean owns a 2016 Chevrolet SS, and yes, it has Holden badges.
Sean Szymkowski
2 min read
2020 Chevy Silverado 2500HD production
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2020 Chevy Silverado 2500HD production

The chip shortage is hurting automakers big time.

Chevrolet

As the chip shortage continues to cause real headaches for nearly every automaker, General Motors will now take a more aggressive step as there simply aren't enough of the tiny computers for its production schedule. Reuters reported Wednesday GM will cut shifts and idle plants responsible for building the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks.

The production site in Flint, Michigan, which builds the Silverado HD and Sierra HD, will move to a single shift for the time being. Meanwhile, the plant in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, will go idle next week. The facility builds the Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500. Both the heavy-duty and light-duty trucks remain in high demand amid a booming car market with too little inventory.

The automaker's Silao plant in Mexico will also go idle next week as well. Like the Indiana-based facility, it builds the Silverado and Sierra.

GM confirmed the production changes in a statement and added, "this period will provide us with the opportunity to complete unfinished vehicles at the impacted assembly plants and ship those units to dealers to help meet the strong customer demand for our products." This particular chip shortage should be a "near-term" issue, the spokesperson added, and production should resume Aug. 2.

The company continues to implement downtime as the chip shortage rocks the auto industry. It also moved to strike various features from vehicles in an effort to keep production lines humming. Some Chevy and GMC trucks will no longer feature a fuel-saving technology called Dynamic Fuel Management, and the brands' full-size SUVs won't sport wireless phone charging, either.

2021 Chevy Silverado: Lots to like, but not enough

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