Name: GM cuts production at two plants as pandemic squeezes supply chain
Brand: nbcnews.com
SKU: nbcnews-com-554
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

GM cuts production at two plants as pandemic squeezes supply chain

preview

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.SKIP TO CONTENTBy General Motors was forced to curb production at two of its key assembly plants on Thursday and Friday due to parts shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic — and industry observers fear that more disruptions could follow as the rate of Covid-19 infections surges to record levels.Overtime work scheduled for Saturday at GM’s big SUV plant in Arlington, Texas, has been canceled, the automaker announced, while the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, was forced to temporarily shut down on Thursday and Friday. GM had been pressing to boost production at both factories to cope with shortages resulting from the industry’s two-month shutdown last spring.“We’re going to see other plants hit by this,” warned Carla Bailo, the CEO of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan.The auto industry Sales in March and April fell by more than one-third as much of the country went into lockdown. A two-month factory shutdown worsened that situation, leaving dealers with supply shortages, just as new vehicle demand is surging.Automakers such as GM aimed at reducing the risk of infections on the factory floor — including the use of personal protective equipment, social distancing and apps aimed at keeping those already infected from reporting to work.But such steps have made it difficult to get back to normal levels of production and begin to rebuild vehicle stocks. “Inventory levels will remain lower” than a year ago through at least the end of 2020, Acting GM Chief Financial Officer John Stapleton said during a conference call last week.Other automakers, including Toyota, have issued similar advisories in recent weeks and they say the situation is complicated by the industry’s dependence upon outside parts suppliers, many of whom are struggling financially and can’t match the strict Covid-19 protocols put in place by automakers.GM hasn’t said where the bottlenecks hitting the Kentucky and Texas plants have occurred but several industry insiders pointed to challenges being faced in Mexico, where Covid-19 infection rates have been surging. The states of Durango and Chihuahua have declared red alerts and enacted mandatory restrictions that impact manufacturing operations there.There are new outbreaks spreading worldwide, so industry officials fear that with automakers depending on a global supply line, operations could be disrupted on a more frequent basis in the weeks to come.A GM statement stressed that the Kentucky and Texas plants are only temporarily affected, adding that the company will “continue to work closely with our suppliers to minimize any parts disruption.”But, if the situation worsens, shortages of new vehicles could short-circuit efforts to get the auto industry sales rebound — and financial recovery — back on track, in turn leading to new job cuts.Paul A. Eisenstein is an NBC News contributor who covers the auto industry.

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.SKIP TO CONTENTBy General Motors was forced to curb production at two of its key assembly plants on Thursday and Friday due to parts shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic — and industry observers fear that more disruptions could follow as the rate of Covid-19 infections surges to record levels.Overtime work scheduled for Saturday at GM’s big SUV plant in Arlington, Texas, has been canceled, the automaker announced, while the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, was forced to temporarily shut...

public

Paul A. Eisenstein is an NBC News contributor who covers the auto industry.

Paul A. Eisenstein

News updates from around the 🌎, all day, every day.

nbcnews.com

Credible

Speculation

Anecdotal Evidence

Generalization

Stacking the Deck

Appeal to Authority

Straw Man

Slippery Slope

Emotional Appeal

Red Herring

False Dilemma

Illogical

Moral Equivalency

Ad Hominem

Correlation w/o Causation

Semantics

Begging the Question

Faulty Analogy

Non Sequitur

Bandwagon

Dogmatism

Failing Occam's Razor

Biased

Pure Opinion

Hit Piece

Racial Bias

National Bias

Religious Bias

Financial Incentive

Political Agenda

Gender Bias

Misused Image/Video

Study Misinterpreted

Mistake

Misused Term

Science Misrepresented

Factual Error

Satire

Surface Level

Lack of Reliable Sources

Sensational

Not Credible

Investigative

Balanced

Well Sourced

Great Context

sports

entertainment

U.S.

international

business

technology

science

culture

politics

media

health

GM cuts production at two plants as pandemic squeezes supply chain

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS