GM to Up Deliveries by Dropping Stop-Start on Pickups, SUVs

General Motors today outlined steps it is taking to increase deliveries to dealers and customers in the United States and Canada to meet strong consumer demand for Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles. The good news is that production of the Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD full-size pickups will increase by about 1,000 trucks per month beginning in mid-July as a result of production line efficiencies delivered by the team at Flint Assembly in Michigan.

The bad news is GM’s gas-mileage-increasing stop-start system is being dropped on some models of the 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL and Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV SUVs. Stop-start will also be dropped for the moment on some light-duty Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups. The semiconductor or microchip shortage is expected to last through 2021, and possibly until sometime in 2022.

“The global semiconductor shortage remains complex and very fluid, but the speed, agility and commitment of our team, including our dealers, has helped us find creative ways to satisfy customers,” said Phil Kienle, GM vice president, North America Manufacturing and Labor Relations. “Customer demand continues to be very strong, and GM’s engineering, supply chain and manufacturing teams have done a remarkable job maximizing production of high-demand and capacity-constrained vehicles.”

Shipments of Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon mid-size pickups built at Wentzville Assembly in Missouri will increase by about 30,000 total units from mid-May through the week of July 5 as the team completes dynamic vehicle testing on units held at the plant due to semiconductor supply disruptions. Smaller volumes of vehicles held at other plants also will complete dynamic vehicle testing and ship to dealers during June and July. U.S. assembly plants that build GM’s most capacity-constrained products will not take any dedicated vacation downtime this summer.

As announced in May, GM will return full-size pickup production to Oshawa Assembly in Canada during the fourth quarter of 2021. The new accelerated timeline and incremental volume are expected to make an impact in 2022, as production ramps up.

“As a result of GM’s ongoing efforts to prioritize semiconductor usage, its success engineering solutions that maximize the utilization of chips as well as the pull-ahead of some projected semiconductor deliveries into the second quarter, the company now expects its first-half financial results to be significantly better than the first-half guidance previously provided.  GM is optimistic about the full year and expects to share additional information during its second-quarter earnings conference call on Aug. 4,” GM said.