Automotive

GM temporarily halting output at two plants on Helene supply-chain snarls
Written by Ethan Bernard
October 4, 2024
General Motors is temporarily stopping production at a plant in Michigan and one in Texas due to supply-chain fallout from Hurricane Helene.
“Production at Flint Assembly (in Mich.) is cancelled for all shifts on Oct. 4, and Arlington Assembly (in Texas) is canceled for all shifts on Oct. 4 and 7 because of impacts to suppliers as a result of Hurricane Helene,” a spokeswoman for GM said in a statement to SMU.
“We are working with these suppliers to resume operations as quickly and safely as possible for their employees and communities, as we seek to minimize impacts on our plants,” she added.
Flint Assembly has 4,617 employees and manufactures heavy-duty crew and regular cab trucks. These include the Chevrolet Silverado HD and the GMC Sierra HD Denali and Sierra HD.
Arlington Assembly has 5,410 employees and builds full-size SUVs such as the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, as well as the Cadillac Escalade and Escalade-V.
Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26 and sowed damage across the Southeast, with western North Carolina particularly hard hit. The death toll has topped 200, according to a story in USA Today.
UPDATE: On Monday, Oct. 7, GM sent the following statement to SMU: “After a brief pause in production at GM’s Flint and Arlington assembly plants due to supplier-related issues in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, production will resume at both plants.”
The automaker said Flint has already resumed operation, while Arlington will resume Monday evening on third shift.
“Our teams are confident we can make up any lost production over the coming days and weeks,” GM added.

Ethan Bernard
Read more from Ethan BernardLatest in Automotive

North American auto assemblies tumble in July
North American auto assemblies declined in July, down 16.4% vs. August. But, according to GlobalData, assemblies were 2.4% ahead year on year (y/y).

US light-vehicle sales rebound in July
US light-vehicle (LV) sales increased to an unadjusted 1.37 million units in July, 8.7% over June and 6.6% above year-ago totals, according to US Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

Cliffs inks longer-term contracts with US automakers hedging tariff inflation: Report
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has reportedly signed "unusually long" fixed-price supply agreements with multiple US automakers.

Cliffs CEO reassures of Dearborn restart goal as UAW rallies to ‘Save the Rouge’
“We are committed to bring the hot-end back to full operation. The goal is to bring back to work all employees of the currently idled units as soon as we can," Chairman, President, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in a letter to colleagues on Wednesday.

North American auto assemblies down in June
North American auto assemblies declined in June, down 10.6% vs. May. And, according to GlobalData, assemblies were 3.1% down year on year (y/y).