CHEVROLET CAMARO, COLORADO PLANT SHUT DOWNS EXTENDED

By now, it’s clear the global semiconductor shortage is becoming an enormous issue for the US automotive industry. Just today, we reported Ford and Ram are will soon run into trouble with their pickup trucks, which is very problematic for these high-profit models. Earlier in March, even the high performance Chevrolet Camaro couldn’t outrun the issue, and production was halted. Today, The Detroit Free Press is reporting General Motors is extending the shutdown on the Camaro plant in Lansing, Michigan, and will also be shutting down their Wentzville Assembly plant in Missouri, which builds the Chevrolet Colorado mid-size pickup and Express van, plus their GMC Canyon and Savanna counterparts.

The new shutdown on the Lansing Grand River plant affects the aforementioned Chevrolet Camaro, as well as the Cadillac CT4 and CT5. The shutdown began on March 15 and production was supposed to resume at the end of March, but GM will be extending the shutdown to mid April. An official startup date has not been disclosed at this time. It’s also unclear if the extended production halt will impact the upcoming Cadillac Blackwing sedans.

The Wentzville Assembly plant that builds the Chevrolet Colorado and Express, plus the GMC Canyon and Savanna, will be shut down from from March 29 through April 5. Although interestingly, GM is managing to keep the Express and Savanna vans in production, so only the mid-sized pickups will be affected during the factory downtime. Considering the pickups are a more popular vehicle, this is surprising, but it could be because the aging vans use less sophisticated technology than the vehicles the semiconductor shortage is impacting.

General Motors will continue their production stop of the Chevrolet Camaro and mid-size pickup twins to continue to build their more profitable full side trucks and SUVs. This includes the Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe and Suburban; the GMC Sierra and Yukon; and the Cadillac Escalade. This may give GM a major advantage for the next few months, as Ford and Ram pickups will be affected by the shortage while GM’s truck remains unscathed. This semiconductor shortage isn’t going away soon, and it’ll be interesting to see how automakers adapt moving forward.