By Steven Symes 
They say history repeats itself, but everyone was hoping car parts shortages wouldn’t come back for some time. Sadly, they’re still haunting automakers, with the latest case being GM idling its Wentzville plant in Missouri.
Toyota recalls over 590,000 cars.
The factory, which assembles the Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, Chevy Express, and GMC Savana, is scheduled to be idled from September 29 to October 20, per The Detroit News. Unlike instances recently where automakers have allegedly suspended production due to a lack of product demand, this is driven by parts shortages.
GM usually won’t reveal exactly what components are holding up production, so everyone is left to guess on the details.
Back in 2021 the plant, like many others, had to idle as the semiconductor shortage hit the auto industry hard. We’ve been told by multiple sources that shortage has never been fully solved, but we can’t confirm if it has anything to do with the Wentzville shutdown.
With how in-demand the four models produced at the plant are, this has to hurt GM financially in a fairly significant way. It would be worse if full-size truck or SUV product lines were affected.
Even though most people aren’t aware, parts shortages have been a growing problem in the auto industry for the past year or so. They don’t receive much press coverage like the issue did a four years ago.
But we did cover how back in May, Stellantis halted production of Jeep Gladiators at its Toledo factory, all thanks to an unspecified parts shortage.
Some have speculated the several production stoppages at GM’s Bowling Green assembly might have something to do with parts shortages, as well as the need to adjust to decreasing market demand. That’s only speculation.
Everything from rising global tensions to inflation and tariffs have been blamed for parts shortages recently. It looks like a problem that could grow worse before it gets better, again.
Image via GM
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