The sentence fell on Wednesday: General Motors has decided to close three of its factories - in the United States, Canada and Mexico - as of next week.
The automaker has also decided to cut production at one of its factories in South Korea.
In question?
A global shortage of electronic chips, because of the Covid-19 which has reshuffled many cards.
The manufacturer is not the first to have to make such a decision.
Volkswagen, in Germany, or Ford, in the United States, also had to temporarily reduce their production.
And Toyoya partially stopped his.
In mid-January, it was Honda, already, which had announced to close its factory in Great Britain and to reduce its production in North America.
The electronic chip market at the start of the year is as tight as it has never been.
This automotive shortage is the result of an increase in demand from manufacturers of digital products - boosted by the crisis, lockdowns and the rise of teleworking - to produce smartphones (including 5G phones, requiring more chips), televisions , computers, consoles (with the release of Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X) etc.
It is combined with an underestimation by manufacturers of their needs when taking orders in recent months.
Fleas ... against vaccines
In the United States, the Trump administration's decision to blacklist China's leading semiconductor producer Semiconductor Manufacturing International in December prompted customers to seek alternatives and further restricted global supply. of chips, writes Bloomberg.
Some buyers have also pulled on demand by building up large stocks to deal with possible shortages.
The situation could go on for a long time.
According to the research institute IHS Markit, in a note published at the end of December, the balance between supply and demand could not be found until the second half of the year.
And the researchers anticipate a defect: “The real risk would be that manufacturers would start to panic when faced with longer delivery times and do not order more than necessary.
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Taiwan, one of the main microchip-producing countries, has taken the problem head-on.
“Our government and the producers of electronic chips are considering how to help” the automobile manufacturers, confided its Minister of the Economy the week behind.
But it will not be "free": Taiwan is asking for help from Europe, in exchange, to obtain vaccines against Covid-19.
