Windsor Is Back Up Next Week, Two Other Plants Will Go Idle:
Semiconductor Shortage Hits Plants Again...
According to The Detroit News, production at the Windsor Assembly Plant (WAP) will resume after a lengthy period of downtime due to the global semiconductor shortage. The plant manufacturers the award-winning Chrysler Pacifica and Chrysler Voyager (also known as the Grand Caravan in Canada) minivans. The WAP plant is expected to continue with two shifts starting on Monday, July 5th.
AutoForecast Solutions LLC has said that the WAP plant has lost production of nearly 65,450 units as of earlier this week. The WAP facility was shut down for three weeks during the month of February, and almost completely since the month of April.
But while the return to work is good for the 4,581 WAP employees, Stellantis has announced that it will idle two more plants the week after next, to help conserve its semiconductor chips for its more popular offerings. The Belvidere Assembly Plant (BAP) in Illinois and the Toluca Assembly Plant (TAP) are those that will be idled. The BAP plant has been struggling and continues to be the most underutilized plant in North America, producing the slow-selling Jeep® Cherokee as its only vehicle.
The TAP plant recently ended production of the stong-selling but aged Dodge Journey crossover and the North American-spec Fiat 500, it currently manufactures all of the Jeep Compass models for North America. The plant is scheduled to begin production of the 2022 Jeep Compass later this year.
AutoForecast Solutions has said that the BAP plant has been the hardest plant affected globally by the major automakers with a loss of more than 118,480 units due to the shortage. The TAP plant, according to the automotive forecaster had a loss of more than 64,200 units.
It is expected that the second quarter, will be the worse hit from the semiconductor shortage for Stellantis.
The Detroit News also reported that Stellantis continues to hire temporary employees at its plants around the Metro Detroit area, Toledo plants, and Mopar parts distribution centers.
As the semiconductor chip shortage continues to plague multiple markets, we have questioned why the Big-3 automakers of Stellantis, General Motors (GM), and Ford Motor Company haven’t gotten together to create an alliance to solve the problem. All three automakers could join forces and produce the semiconductor chips to the specific specifications needed for their automotive applications.
We have seen all three companies, jump at the opportunity to help with the production of various Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and medical equipment during the pandemic.
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