Automotive News Canada - March 2021 - 19

ay.
o

t

ve
n

e-

as
e

od

NC

r

n

d

-

90
1

at

ll

d

n-

lll
r-

r,

r
he

, "

ll

19

* MARCH 2021

Service bays are in line
to feel the pinch of
semiconductor squeeze
By JOHN IRWIN

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA

DEALERS' FIXED
operations could have a
tough time securing parts
for customers the longer the microchip shortage drags on, Tim Reuss,
CEO of the Canadian
Automobile Dealers
Association, warned.
" There's a time delay
there, but it will eventually
have an impact on the service side of the business, "
Reuss said in a March 2
interview.
Still, any impact on
dealers' service and parts
business
is unlikely to be as
severe as the
havoc being
wreaked on
car companies, which
have been
forced to shut
down plants,
he said.
" It will
not be as
grave as the
[vehicle] supply issue, "
he said.
" Manufacturers have had
to stop production, and
that impacts thousands and
thousands of vehicles. "

ment, Ford said in a
statement that it had
" announced the downtime
we've currently planned. "
Meanwhile, General
Motors said in March that
it would extend downtime
at its Ingersoll, Ont., plant
until at least mid-April.
And Stellantis said that
the shortage could last into
the second half of 2021 and
could dampen earnings.

POLITICAL RESPONSE:
THE U.S. IS ACTING
THE SHORTAGE HAS
the attention of the White
House, which has been
under pressure from industry officials to take action.
U.S.
President
Joe Biden
in February
said he
would seek
US $37 billion ($46.8
billion) to
boost chip
manufacturing in
the United
States. He
also signed
an executive order
launching
a 100-day review of supply
chains for semiconductor
chips, as well as large-capacity batteries for electric
vehicles, rare earth materials and pharmaceuticals.

MICROCHIP
IMPACT

SOME CANADIAN PLANTS IN
FOR ROLLER-COASTER RIDE
THE LACK OF CHIPS
had repercussions throughout global vehicle assembly, and Canada's plants
are no exception.
Ford Motor Co.'s
Oakville, Ont., factory
appears to have taken a
particularly big hit. The
plant, which builds the
Ford Edge and Lincoln
Nautilus crossovers, was
shut down for all but 10
days during the first two
months of 2020 due to
the chip situation and a
parts shortage caused by
extreme winter weather in
the United States, according to Unifor, the union
that represents the plant's
workers.
AutoForecast Solutions
LLC, meanwhile, expected the Oakville plant to
be down one or two weeks
every month through
August. The forecaster estimated an impact of 33,100
units at the plant, which
would constitute 23 per
cent of Oakville Assembly's
total 2020 output and 13 per
cent of its 2019 production.
" It will be very difficult
to recover those units this
year, " said Sam Fiorani,
vice-president of global
vehicle forecasting.
When asked for com-

FOAM SCARCITY COULD
COMPOUND CHIP PROBLEM
ANOTHER KEY PARTS
shortage could begin to rattle supply chains as companies sort through the
dearth of microchips.
Industry sources told
sibling publications
Automotive News and
Crain's Detroit Business in
early March that a scarcity
of foam could impact seat
production and auto assembly.
Automakers told
Automotive News in early
March that they were
working with their suppliers to mitigate the issue.
Suppliers, meanwhile,
were largely quiet. Eric
Turmel, marketing manager for Ontario auto-foam
supplier Woodbridge, said
in an email that the company was " supporting " its
customers, but he did not
respond to a request for
further details.
The issue stems from
the historic winter storm
that struck Texas in
February. The severe
weather hampered production of propylene oxide,
which is used to make seating foam. - ANC
- With files from Reuters

N.A. auto plants, vehicles hit by microchip shortage

Most of Canada's auto assembly plants have been impacted by the global
microchip shortage. The latest Ontario figures from AutoForecast Solutions (AFS)
show Ford's factory in Oakville has lost about 33,100 units of production. AFS
charts a total of 26,200 vehicles not produced at Stellantis' plants in Brampton (300,
300C, Charger, Challenger) and Windsor (Pacifica, Voyager). The toll at General
Motors' Equinox plant in Ingersoll is nearly the same.
Honda's factory in Alliston (Civic) has been minimally hit, while Toyota
36has
* FEBRUARY
15, 2021
avoided chip-related
production shortfalls at its plants in Cambridge and
Woodstock.
Globally, the number of vehicles not produced because of announced closures as
of March 9 rose to 920,000. North America accounts for nearly a third of them. AFS
now projects that global figure will rise to 1.75 million.

N.A. auto plants affected by microchip shortage
PLANT

PRODUCTION CHANGE

EST. UNITS LOST

VEHICLES AFFECTED

Ford
Kentucky Truck

Slow production in Jan.

500

Expedition, Navigator

Chicago

2 of 3 shifts canceled for week in Feb.;
more expected

4,700†

Explorer, Aviator

Kansas City #1, Mo.

Closed 1 week in Feb.

2,600†

Transit

Dearborn, Mich.

2 days shortened in Jan.; additional
reductions in Feb.

6,800†

F-Series

Kansas City #2, Mo.

2 days shortened in Jan.; additional
reductions in Feb.

4,000†

F-Series

Oakville, Ontario

Slow restart pushed back to Feb. 8. Down
1-2 weeks per month through Aug.

33,100†

Edge, Nautilus

Louisville, Ky.

Shut Jan. 11 through Feb. 7; shut late
Feb., early March

25,700 †

Escape, Corsair

General Motors
Orion Twp., Mich.

Down 1 week in Feb.

1,200†

Bolt, Cruise AV

Ramos Arizpe #2, Mex.

Down 2 weeks in Feb.

8,200†

Blazer, Equinox

Bowling Green, Ky.

Down 2 weeks in Feb., 1 week in March

3,300†

Corvette

San Luis Potosi, Mexico

Down in Feb. and March

28,700†

Equinox, Onix, Terrain

Ingersoll, Ontario

Down in Feb., March, April

26,000†

Equinox

Fairfax, Kan.
Spring Hill, Tenn.
Fort Wayne, Ind.

Down in Feb., March, April

33,900† XT4, Malibu
1,200 XT5, XT6, Acadia
2,700 Sierra, Silverado

Down 2 days in Feb.

Honda
Alliston #1, Ontario

Reduced Q1 production

Marysville, Ohio

Reduced Jan. output

3,900†
2,500

Civic
Accord

Greensburg, Ind.

Reduced Jan. output

1,000

Civic, Insight

Lincoln, Ala.

Reduced Jan. output

900

Odyssey

East Liberty, Ohio

Reduced Jan. output

800

RDX

Mazda
Salamanca, Mexico

Reduced Q1 output

6,100† CX-30, Mazda2, Mazda3

Nissan
Canton, Miss.

Specific workdays affected

2,300

Altima, Frontier, Titan

Stellantis
Belvidere, Ill.

Down 1 week in Feb.

4,700 †

Toluca, Mexico

Down 4 weeks through Feb. 15; all of
March

35,900† Compass

Toledo North

Reduced Jan. output

2,800

Bramalea, Ontario

Down 3 weeks in Jan.

11,300

Windsor, Ontario

Down 3 weeks starting Feb. 8.

Toledo Supplier Park

Reduced Jan. output

14,900†
900

Cherokee

Wrangler
300, 300C, Charger,
Challenger
Pacifica, Voyager
Gladiator

Subaru
Lafayette, Ind.

10 net workdays lost in Jan., Feb.

20,200† Impreza, Legacy, Outback,
Ascent

Tesla
Fremont, Calif.

Production lost over 2 weeks in Feb.,
March

6,400

Models 3, Y

Toyota
San Antonio

Loss of 4,900 Tundras in Jan. and 5,600
in Feb.; more possible in March. Loss of
2,700 Tacomas in Jan. and 200 in Feb.

13,500

Tundra, Tacoma

Puebla, Mexico

Jetta adjustments through March 5

4,400†

Jetta

San Jose Chiapa,
Mexico

Reduced shifts in Jan., Feb.

5,800†

Q5

Volkswagen

†AutoForecast Solutions projects this number will increase
Information current through March 9
Source: AutoForecast Solutions Inc.
Automotive News Canada - March 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - March 2021
