General Motors has shipped about half of the stockpiled pickup truck inventory that it had stored amid the global semiconductor chip shortage and is expected to clear the remaining trucks before the end of the year.
Speaking at the recent Reuters Events Automotive Summit, General Motors North America vice president, Steve Carlisle, said the automaker has “made great progress,” with regard to shipping out its partially completed, stockpiled pickups.
“We’re a bit better than halfway through that at the moment and our goal would be to clear out our ’21 model years by the end of the year,” Carlisle said during the virtual, online-only conference, as quoted by Reuters. “We’ll have a bit of a tail of ’22 model years into the new year but not for too long.”
GM began storing partially completed trucks near its various assembly plants earlier this year as part of its “build shy” strategy, which allows it to keep its plants up and running even if it doesn’t have all the chips it needs to complete them immediately. This allows the automaker to then pull these incomplete trucks back into the plant, install the remaining absent chips and ship them out to dealers.
Carlisle also revealed this week that GM had purchased its own car haulers to deliver trucks to dealers in a more efficient manner amid the chip shortage and, in some cases, is also allowing dealers to pick trucks up themselves in certain parts of the country.
GM had under 30 days’ supply of the GMC Sierra 1500 and Chevy Silverado 1500 at the end of August 2021 as a result of high demand and low production output. This was an improvement from earlier in the year, however, when the COVID-19 pandemic and microchip shortage tanked GM’s light-duty pickup supply levels to less than 20 days.
Many automakers, including Ford, VW and Daimler, have expressed concern the global semiconductor chip shortage could last longer than expected. Speaking to CNBC, Ford Europe chairman Gunnar Herrman said the chip shortage could extend into 2024 due to sustained high demand and a shift to electric vehicles. The publication points out that a regular Ford Focus uses around 300 chips, whereas a battery-electric Focus uses in excess of 3,000.
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Comments
Good news to get this aging inventory cleared out, make room for the refreshed models.
I just had a shocking bit of info about the chip shortage when the high poteet from ford said the Ford Focus uses 300 chips. I never imagined modern vehicles having that many computerized parts. Not to mention EVs having 3000, as I said when people asked why I bought a 2018 Nissan Frontier I didn’t want one of the 4 wheeled computers rolling down the road today. Everyone of those chips is potential breakdowns, and they’re not like our iPads and computers where when something starts going wrong we shut it down and restart and we’re good ‘til the next time. With these rolling computers if you’re lucky you can limp into the dealer for a fix, or you can have an expensive tow and a few days wait for parts.
It has never been specified in these ‘Layman’s Forums’, yet I believe when they say ‘Chip Shortage’ they specifically mean either Graphics Processors, micro processors, or these days, more likely Microcomputers….
I know the first 2011 volt had 27 of these, and I would imagine there has been a great deal of effort made to get this number way down….After all – the main directive has been to eliminate any cost in the vehicles that does not provide a bona fide improvement.
Most other ‘decision making’ devices one runs into in everyday life have such a program. Bowling Alleys with computerized pin setting typically have only 1 microcomputer for each PAIR of Lanes, since the required decision making happens at a slow enough level that one Micro can handle the entire work load.
Similarly, the Engine Control Modules on the lower priced vehicles do not need to complete their decision – making in millionths of a second. A few milliseconds is fine to complete a decision – therefore there can be multiple jobs given to a single processor.
Ford Focus? They still make those? On the line with the Taurus?
Bad news for the customers who buy those sun bleached vehicles.
Good thinking. How are they gonna explain that?
gm is going to charge you extra because the frame will come to you pre-rusty
Its time for the company to announce a big rebate for us customers that have awaiting delivery of our HD Truck, all of the concerns mentioned here are more than valid.
The GM code shows my truck is built . GM even verified it is completely built, just waiting to be shipped. GM shows my truck was transported to and parked at The Palace T Auburn Hills on October 26, 2021. It is now February 02, 2022 and my truck is still sitting in the parking lot of The Palace. No one at GM is able to tell me when my truck will be shipped, not the dealer or GM customer service. GM apparently does not care that I have been a loyal customer for the past 33 years, buying a new truck every four years. If anyone has the email or hone number to a GM executive, I would split. I’ll start calling and emails them daily for answers and updates.
I am literally standing across the street from gm. They are buying every property they can to store trucks.
Oshawa resident
Only going to be a year old unless Barra sells it to China wlth the chip factory she sold them Barra dumb