The global shortage of semiconductor chips for cars has hit General Motors Co which has announced it will cut down production of vehicles at most of its North American assembly plants this month.

This is expected to hit the production of the highly profitable truck and sport utility vehicles, the company said on Thursday.

Production of vehicles will be halted at the Fort Wayne plant in Indiana and its Silao plant in Mexico of GM, the largest automaker of the United States, starting next week. Both these factories build the profitable pickup trucks of the company.

On te overall, the company has decided to curb production of vehicles at eight North American assembly plants for this month.

There have been massive vehicle production cuts all around the globe by many companies because of the industry wide auto chip shortage.

The chip shortage has also prompted Ford Motor Co to announce earlier this week of its decision to reduce production of trucks next week because shortage in supply of semiconductor chips.

The shortage has also forced Japanese auto major Toyota Motor Corp to announce last month a massive slashing of its global production for September – to the tune of 40 per cent of its global production for September compared to its previous target.

Starting September 6, auto production at its Wentzville, Missouri plant will be halted for two weeks by GM. Midsize trucks and full-size vans are manufactu4red at this facility. Production will also be halted for two additional weeks by GM at its CAMI Assembly in Canada and San Luis Potosi Assembly in Mexico. These two factories make its Equinox SUV at both plants.

Production at its Lansing Delta Township plant will also be halted for two additional weeks by the automaker. The Chevrolet Traverse and the Buick Enclave are made at this facility.

Two weeks of production in September will also be cut at the company’s Spring Hill Tennessee plant where the company builds the GMC Acadia, Cadillac XT5 and Cadillac XT6. Similarly production for two additional weeks will also be halted at the company’s Ramos, Mexico plant where it makes its Blazer vehicles. Production of its Equinox cars will be closed down till the week of September 27.

The company has already halted production of the Equinox since August 16.

During the time period that production will be halted at the factories, the company will repair and ship unfinished vehicles from many of the impacted plants, including Fort Wayne and Silao.

(Adapted from Investing.com)