North American Auto Assemblies Tumble in April

Auto assemblies in North America backpedaled in April as the ongoing shortage of semiconductor chips intensified and hindered automakers’ ability to produce cars and trucks, according to LMC Automotive (LMCA). April’s production totaled 1.087 million units, down from 1.217 million units in March or 10.7%. March saw a bump in auto production—the first in nearly five months—but it was short-lived as the chip shortage impacted April. Further declines are expected in automotive until semiconductor production can catch up with demand.

“Risks remain elevated for additional auto production reductions,” said the LMCA. “Aside from further COVID-related demand disruption, delays to the normalization of semiconductor supply could lead to a deeper than expected contraction in Q2, while continuing disruption in Q3 would limit the available capacity for OEMs to recover earlier ‘lost’ output.”