General Motors Co. is a well known company that manufactures and design vehicle and vehicle parts. However, the company has it a roadblock that could potentially affect operations. Yahoo has it that GM is temporarily closing 4 North American assembly plants after experiencing a parts shortage following the recent deadly earthquakes in Japan.
The company expresses that this is not a serious matter, indicating that the temporary closure will not affect the company's year-end plans and earnings. Other companies affected by the Japan quake, are Nissan and Toyota. Both automanufacturing companies are also planning on some downtime. Schedules however, have not been released yet. On the other hand, Ford Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles have not been impacted by the earthquake.
"We await to see if others are impacted. But our view is that near-term disruption could help alleviate some near-term elevated U.S. inventory levels," says Joseph Spak, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets.
The Detroit based automaker said that it will plan to put the following sites on idle mode: Spring Hill, Tennessee; Oshawa Flex Assembly in Canada; Lordstown, Ohio; and Fairfax, Kansas.
These plants will officially and temporarily close on Apr. 25, 2016 and is scheduled to remain idle for two weeks. The idle time would mean 34,000 vehicles won't be manufactured.
The four North American sites employ a total of 13,374 United Auto Workers members. The automobiles affected in the production line are the Cadillac XT5, GMC Acadia, Chevrolet Cruze, Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Equinox and Buick Regal, as told by Detroit News. To ensure the workers understand, the United Auto Workers (UAW,) which represents workers at GM's plants, announced on Facebook that the idle time is due to an "electrical parts shortage."
