GM shutting down production at most of its plants in North America

By Chris Isidore, CNN Business

General Motors will shut production at most of its North American plants for a week or two starting next week as the worsening chip shortage takes another bite out of its production plans.

GM and other automakers had hoped to have the chip shortage mostly behind them by this time. But the surge in Covid cases, especially in Southeast Asia where many of the chip manufacturers are based, has created a worsening problem for automakers, not a improving supply as had been hope.

Only a small handful of plants will remain in operation. Those plants make full-size SUVs and pickups, as well as some of its sports cars, such as the Camero and Corvette. GM is prioritizing the chips it has for its most popular and profitable vehicles.

Still, some of its large pickup and SUV production will be affected by the shutdowns.

The tight supply of chips has led to limited inventories of new vehicles at GM and across the industry, which has resulted in record high car prices. Just about all major automakers have reported limited productions plans to deal with the shortages.

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