COVID shut down car assembly lines around the world. When they got back up to speed, a delayed reaction from shutdowns of chips and semiconductors—already in short supply—hit unprepared automakers and even Toyota, whose extensive supply-chain relations gave it some foresight.
Stellantis cut another 38,000 Cherokees, Voyagers, and Pacificas out of its production schedule as a result of the shortage; the hit was almost entirely to the Cherokee, which is losing 36,000 crossovers from production just after a magazine compared it favorably to the new Bronco Sport. Ford announced a greater problem, with 93,000 vehicles cut—including 35,000 pickups and 28,000 Escapes.
A week ago, the biggest North American announcement was made by GM, with 73,500 vehicles cut, spread across numerous nameplates and vehicle types. Ford had 18,000 cuts and Subaru had 16,000.
In North America, the crisis has affected Ford the most, by far, with over 324,000 cars and trucks cut from production. General Motors came in at #2, with nearly 278,000 vehicles cut; while Stellantis was hit hard for its size with over 252,000 vehicles cut from schedules. Toyota, despite being one of the largest North American car producers, only had to cut 23,670 vehicles.
Globally, nearly 3 million cars and trucks have been cut from production. North America has been hit worst, followed by Europe and then Asia, and finally other regions.
Information from AutoForecastSolutions via Automotive News
David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest Mopar site (Allpar) in 1994. After a chemo-induced 2007-2010 break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales (Chrysler history and “permanent” car and truck pages). He most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the marque.
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