DETROIT – General Motors has temporarily halted vehicle production at two U.S. factories that assemble highly profitable large pickup trucks and SUVs attributable to the impact of Hurricane Helene on suppliers.
The automaker canceled shifts on Thursday and Friday at a plant in Flint, Michigan, that produces its heavy-duty trucks, and at Arlington Assembly in Texas, which produces large SUVs corresponding to the Chevrolet Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon.
A GM spokeswoman declined to invest on when the plants were expected to resume production Friday morning. A message to Arlington employees on Thursday, seen by CNBC, said production at that plant was expected to resume on Monday.
“We are working with these suppliers to resume operations for their employees and communities as quickly and safely as possible while seeking to minimize the impact on our plants,” GM said in an emailed statement.
Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida late last week, hitting the southeastern United States and parts of western North Carolina particularly hard. At least 215 people have died and a whole lot are still missing.
GM declined to reveal which suppliers were affected or where they were situated.
Jeffrey Morrison, GM vp of worldwide purchasing and provide chain, said Thursday that the hurricane and the longshoremen's strike were disruptive events for the automaker. The strike ended in a while Thursday and port employees returned to work on Friday.
Morrison said that since coping with disruptions through the pandemic, GM has taken a deeper have a look at its supply chains to raised track parts and potential problems.
“Covid has really helped us map our value chain much deeper,” he told CNBC during a drive-in conference for Rev. Jesse Jackson Rainbow Push Coalition in Detroit. “Before Covid, it was harder to understand what the sub-levels were. We now have a large inventory of these sublevels. Not only can we control the material we buy directly, but we can also talk to all of our suppliers.”
Morrison also said the automaker is attempting to help such suppliers as much as possible during production disruptions.
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