March 15, 2021

U.S. automaker General Motors Corporation announced Monday it will build certain 2021 light-duty full-size pickup trucks without a fuel management module due to the global semiconductor chip shortage.

In an email to the Reuters news agency, GM spokeswoman Michelle Malcho said the decision will lower the fuel economy slightly in those models effected by the decision, including the Chevy Silverado and the GMC Sierra.

Malcho emphasized all trucks are still being built, something GM has repeatedly stressed it would try to sustain as pickups are among GM’s most profitable models. She declined to say the volume of vehicles affected.

The change runs through the 2021 model year, which typically ends in late summer or early fall, she said.

Malcho said it would not have a major impact on the Detroit automaker’s U.S. corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) numbers.

Other automakers around the world, including Ford and Nissan, have had to make production adjustments because of the microchip shortage.

Industry observers say the shortage has been driven by the pandemic in a number of ways, including a surge in demand for consumer electronics, as more people work and study from home. Automakers, meanwhile, expecting lower sales, cancelled orders for chips last year, only to see sales rebounding, catching suppliers unprepared.

 

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