Chevy Equinox inventory was less than 1,000 units nationwide at the beginning of October, GM Authority has learned from sources familiar with the matter. The extremely low figure is the result of all the three plants that produce Chevy’s best-selling crossover having been idle for the greater part of 2021.
GM originally started production of the 2022 Chevy Equinox on June 22nd but the ongoing semiconductor shortage forced the automaker to idle production. GM originally planned to restart production on October 4th, but those plans were subsequently pushed back to October 15th, with the latest date now being November 1st. That, too, could change since the chip situation remains fluid.
The ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage has negatively impacted production of the Chevy Equinox, a recurring story that GM Authority has reported on time and again for models across all of GM’s four brands. But GM Chief Financial Officer, Paul Jacobson, expects the automaker’s chip supply to even out in 2022 as suppliers catch up with an unexpected jump in demand.
The Chevy Equinox is produced across three North American facilities for the same market, including the GM CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Canada, the GM Ramos Arizpe plant in Mexico, and the GM San Potosà plant, also in Mexico. CAMI is the primary plant for units of the Equinox destined for the U.S., but production of the vehicle has been getting pushed back at all three facilities. Once Equinox assembly finally resumes, GM will release approximately 8,400 units as part of the first production batch to inventory-starved dealers.
General Motors isn’t alone when it comes to feeling the impact of the microchip shortage. Indeed, the entirety of the auto industry continues to grapple with the crisis, which has extended to other industries as well.
General Motors has contended with the global microchip shortage since earlier in the 2021 calendar year, employing a number of different strategies to curb production stoppages and keep vehicles rolling off the line. One of these is known as the “build-shy” approach, which involves producing models in an incomplete state, or without the chips necessary to make the vehicles operate. Once produced, the built-shy model is then parked to await microchips. Once the necessary chip supplies are acquired, the vehicle is then completed, after which it is shipped out to dealers.
The latest such example involves the 2021 Chevy Camaro, with build-shy units being retrofitted and shipped out to dealers.
Another strategy GM has employed to navigate the microchip shortage involves deleting certain features that require microchips, such as removing fuel management tech from certain full-size trucks as well as SUVs.
A lack of ample Chevy Equinox supply continues to contribute to declines in sales volume, with the crossover posting a 21 percent drop in deliveries during the first six months of 2021. Segment share, as a result, fell to six percent from 10 percent over a year ago.
Sales Numbers - Mainstream Compact Crossovers - Q3 2021 - United States
| MODEL | Q3 21 SHARE | Q3 20 SHARE | YTD 21 / YTD 20 | YTD 21 | YTD 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOYOTA RAV4 | 17% | 17% | +3.59% | 313,447 | 302,574 |
| HONDA CR-V | 14% | 15% | +22.25% | 290,140 | 237,334 |
| NISSAN ROGUE | 10% | 9% | +40.17% | 234,647 | 167,401 |
| CHEVROLET EQUINOX | 6% | 10% | -21.18% | 151,110 | 191,727 |
| MAZDA CX-5 | 8% | 6% | +31.71% | 137,343 | 104,277 |
| SUBARU FORESTER | 7% | 7% | -1.36% | 132,254 | 134,082 |
| HYUNDAI TUCSON | 6% | 5% | +27.33% | 116,047 | 91,139 |
| FORD ESCAPE | 5% | 7% | -15.15% | 111,791 | 131,753 |
| SUBARU CROSSTREK | 7% | 5% | +31.39% | 101,067 | 76,924 |
| VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN | 4% | 4% | +12.49% | 85,000 | 75,563 |
| FORD BRONCO SPORT | 4% | 0% | * | 81,204 | 0 |
| KIA SPORTAGE | 5% | 3% | +26.25% | 78,778 | 62,400 |
| JEEP CHEROKEE | 2% | 6% | -19.58% | 78,750 | 97,919 |
| GMC TERRAIN | 2% | 3% | -28.26% | 43,434 | 60,544 |
| MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER | 2% | 1% | -9.33% | 21,277 | 23,467 |
| DODGE JOURNEY | 0% | 2% | -55.03% | 13,827 | 30,750 |
| MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE CROSS | 0% | 0% | -20.90% | 6,941 | 8,775 |
| TOTAL | +11.16% | 1,997,057 | 1,796,629 |
GM refreshed the Chevy Equinox for the 2022 model year, giving its best-selling CUV new front and rear ends, a new RS trim level, plus various other minor enhancements and new features. One major change was the complete removal of the turbocharged 2.0L I4 LTG engine, which served as a more powerful option in the vehicle.
The refreshed model was originally planned and announced as the 2021 Chevy Equinox before being delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It launched the next model year as the 2022 Chevy Equinox.
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Comments
Too bad they couldn’t have seen fit to insure or bolster their supply chain better like a couple of other mfrs. have and didn’t get pinched quite so quickly.
Another product and popular segment GM is giving up and letting Toyota and Honda have all the sales. This was GM biggest hit, so sad to see it ignored.
What other manufacturers?
Honda just shut down it’s 2 European plants. It’s remaining factories are running 40% capacity.
Hyundai/Kia on track to sell 6.2 million vehicles worldwide this year. Down from 7.5 million a few years ago.
Toyota dealerships have no inventory. Factories are shut down. When they do start shipping again they will have to go through the west coast port clusterfk.
Toyota is cutting sales again. No one is not impacted!
The import brands had better relationships with suppliers and fared much better than the Detroit based big three.
Toyota and Honda US are just beginning to be impacted . They are having a great sales year in the US and are up over last year with increase market share. Toyota had more product to sell in the US this year vs GM and that is why Toyota outsold GM this year and maybe next too. GM and Ford have been impacted worst than the others so far this year.
profit margins are not as great as the autos that GM decided to build with the limited amount of chips. We can understand GM’s decision to focus on high-profit margin autos.
I guess the GMC Terrain going to be delayed also
Between this idling phase and the 2.0t delete, I can only conclude GM doesn’t care much about this vehicle. This is only justifiable if there is a complete refresh in MY2023.
How are other companies building SUV’s? Those increased numbers for the competition are
cusotmers lost for good.
They can build small SUV’s as they don’t sell near the volume of higher profit large trucks and large SUV models.
GM chose where they make the most money.
The minor exterior fascia tweeks for the equinox and terrain for the model year 2022 I’m pretty sure they will be for the same in 2023 probably a complete redesign might happen for 2024 thats if they don’t delete both the equinox and terrain but I highly un like they will probably some sort of hybrid/ electric version but I would be happy with 2.0 l engine not the 1.5 in terrain specially in the terrain Denali