GM's Chip Woes Ease As More Trucks Are Completed

Automotive manufacturers are facing significant hardships with the chip shortage that's plaguing the world. GM decided that it continued producing its popular pickups even though they could not be completed for shipping. Instead of stopping manufacturing lines, GM simply built the truck and then parked them in lots around the country until the chips needed to complete them were available and plugged in.A report now claims that GM is more than halfway through shipping all of the newly assembled trucks that had been sitting around with chips missing. Word of their progress came from GM North America Chief Executive Steve Carlisle. He said that the automaker was about halfway through the backlog and the goal was to clear out all 21 model year trucks by the end of the year.

He did note that GM would have some outstanding 22 model year vehicles rolling into the new year, but the backlog of those vehicles wouldn't last long. The trucks that have been waiting were built without certain modules and had been held up waiting for semiconductors to be available. Once the chips were available, the unfinished trucks were run through the assembly plant, where they were completed and shipped as finished vehicles out to dealerships.

GM has been clear that it has shipped no unfinished vehicles to dealerships expecting them to install the missing components. Many automakers expect the global chip shortage to last into 2022. Some automakers will also have their total yearly shipments impacted significantly by the shortage of chips.

GM, for instance, has warned that sales numbers for Q3 wholesale deliveries would be down by 200,000 units specifically because of the chip shortage. However, what portion of that number represents trucks that are now being completed is unknown.