The novel coronavirus, which has now been given the name COVID-19, is taking its toll on the Chinese economy. Many Chinese businesses and factories have been off work for an extended period of time due to the outbreak of the virus, and while much of the country was scheduled to return to work on Monday, things have been slow to get back up to speed.
Chinese businesses aren’t the ones affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. General Motors announced this week that it would suspend production of the Chevrolet Trailblazer and Buick Encore GX crossovers at its plant in Incheon, South Korea due to a Chinese parts shortage, though the shutdown is only expected to last two days and shouldn’t have a major impact on the supply of the vehicles.
2020 Silverado HD at Flint Assembly
GM may now be facing a much more serious parts shortage problem due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, though. According to The Detroit Bureau, the UAW sent a letter to employees at GM’s Flint Assembly Plant this week warning them of two potential coming parts shortages that could affect the production of the Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD.
“We had a much more in-depth report from the materials department about the impact on our parts supply. They have given up on their everything is fine message. In February, we have parts that potentially will be impacted. They are both decal applications so we will build shy if we run out,” the UAW memo said. “However, if this continues in March, there will be more significant parts impacted. The first being trailer harnesses. The company is still trying to develop a process to run shy and still pass PTT and DVT.”
The memo also said the supplier of the trailer harnesses is currently trying to sort out the logistics of shipping amid the quarantine and will prioritize Flint Assembly over GM’s other truck plant, Fort Wayne Assembly, and its full-size SUV plant, Arlington Assembly.
“The company has leased two cargo planes and also been able to get the government to release two of them,” it said. “They are hoping to improve shipments. The company has set Flint has a priority plant and will sacrifice volume at Arlington and Fort Wayne to keep us running.”
GM was already grappling with supply issues with its HD trucks. The automaker implemented mandatory overtime at Flint Assembly earlier this month in an effort to replenish its HD pickup truck inventory, which it ran down during the 40-day UAW strike last year. Demand for the vehicles has made it difficult for it to build a supply of the trucks back up, as well.
“As we mentioned prior to entering into emergency status at the end of last year, we are facing an extraordinary challenge – customer demand for our HD truck continues to increase but dealer stocks have not stabilized,” the automaker said in an employee memo announcing the overtime shifts.
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Source: The Detroit Bureau
Comments
What is this “build shy” deal? Is GM just not going to put decals on the trucks?
Here’s an idea. Build more parts in the USA!!!
So just how much Chinese parts content do these Korean made Trailblazers and Buick Frumpmobiles contain exactly? Scary!
Hitachi USA builds wiring harnesses. It wouldn’t require a new building and much material to start a line for gm. Build American! You would even save on shipping! I bet you the reason that gm builds so many parts in China is that is the concession that allows gm to sell cars in China! Damn commies.
Look at almost any electrical cable except for home wiring at its all made in china. Every connector i found for my PWC trailer was made in china. Seems no one in the US wants to make small electrical cable anymore.
In the 90s I saw the wiring harness business move from Warren, Ohio to Mexico… at the time the Mexicans weren’t even making $2/ hr. Hard to believe that it was worth moving them from MX to China…..
Certainly looks like there are very few harnesses made ANYWHERE but China. wow.
Just one more reason to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, build these in America. Problem solved
Americans can’t afford the trucks offered today! Who will buy them if all the parts are made in the USA? The top 1%?
I would say most everything with a circuit board and wiring harness is made offshore plus many other parts so they have issues like this pop-up they are scrambling or out of luck
You can’t build a single vehicle in the US (all brands) without Chinese components. The US military would be completely paralysed without Chinese made parts and especially microchips.
I guess we can say that the Chinese have the Americans by the short hair…🤣
Despite the cheapness of Chinese components and production, production should still be transferred to the United States. This will create new jobs and there will be less dependence on epidemics and other risk factors.
Ronald,
Your comment is ignorant beyond belief. China owns the electronic supply chain and controls 98% of the rare earth metals on the planet. The US has no capacity or expertise to manufacture these components in a realistic timeline. Go out and try to buy an American TV or computer????
You can’t manufacture a single anything without Chinese components and that includes Toyota and Honda. In fact, Americans can’t even build a toaster without Chinese components.
China has the US by the short hair. You are Fu%$#d!
Miguel, that’s largely because Chinese corruption. Micro chips are manufactured in America already, and much of electronics are copper wires and plastics, easy to tool and are made abundantly in America. China has cornered the eltronixs market mostly through corruption, currency manipulation and mfg requirements. Just like the new trade deals require a certain amount of production to be in America, China strong-armed companies to make everything in China. We can easily adapt. IDK if we will bring it back, but thankfully China is giving us a reason to. Remember it was real easy for auto companies to up and leave Detroit for the south and Latin America, almost an overnight kind of thing really. We can do that with electronics.