Lucas Bell 
As vaccine rollouts take place across the country, the immediate threat of the coronavirus pandemic appears to waning. And while this is something that we can all be excited about, don’t expect the effects of the pandemic to disappear immediately. By now you’ve surely heard about the global semiconductor shortage that is wreaking havoc across several different industries, including the automotive sector. Late last week MC&T reported that General Motors was forced to halt production of the Chevrolet Camaro as a result of these shortages, something we’ve seen Dodge do recently as well. According to a report from Reuters, GM is now trying to avoid shutting down their full-size truck production by building trucks without their Active Fuel Management or Dynamic Fuel Management modules. The lack of these AFM and DFM systems will reduce fuel economy of both the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, but only slightly.
General Motors announced this decision yesterday, citing the global semiconductor shortage as the main culprit. This move will impact certain 2021 model year trucks, specifically those equipped with the 5.3L V8 engine. A GM spokesperson told Reuters that this will reduce fuel economy for these trucks by one mpg.
GM says the reasoning behind the move is to “better able to meet the strong customer and dealer demand for our full-size trucks.”
General Motors emphasized the fact that they plan to continue building these trucks, regardless of the current issues with the Active Fuel Management and Dynamic Fuel Management modules. This is likely due to that fact that these trucks are a massive profit generator for the automaker. That said, the company would not put an estimate on how many new 2021 Chevrolet Silverado or 2021 GMC Sierra trucks will be affected by the move.
Malcho further confirmed that this period of Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra production should not greatly impact the company’s CAFE numbers. That said, this isn’t exactly supposed to be a short period of time. This change is slated to run until the end of the 2021 model year, which means we are looking at a few months of production at the very least. We already know that General Motors wants to save as many chips as possible for the C8 Corvette, which has faced intense production issues since its debut.
If you are in the market for a new GM truck such as the Chevrolet Silverado or GMC Sierra, be aware that you won’t be getting the Active Fuel Management or Dynamic Fuel Management modules the truck’s were designed with. And while a single mpg drop in efficiency isn’t all that bad, we’re sure some folks aren’t going to appreciate that. Either way, it’s hard to deny we are living in odd times.
I prefer a truck with out the fuel management. Less issues to deal with when something goes wrong. I wish they dropped this permanently
That seems to be the general opinion. Seems like the point of diminishing returns.