Supply chain problems halt Corvette production yet again…
Yet again, Corvette production at Bowling Green Assembly in Kentucky has ground to a halt. And yet again, GM is blaming supply chain woes for the stoppage. And yet again, GM won’t say exactly what’s in short supply that’s stopped the assembly line, leaving everyone to speculate if it’s computer chips or something else. This all is starting to feel like Groundhog Day.
Watch a Dodge Charger run from the cops until it hits a dead end here.
According to a report from The Detroit News, the stoppage, which lasts this week only, doesn’t have anything to do with the semiconductor shortage. That’s believable since the C8 Corvette is a cash cow for GM, especially with the Z06 now rolling off the line, so it would be silly to keep making the Chevy Traverse or Buick Encore using chips which could be used for America’s sports car.
Speaking with The Detroit news, a GM spokesman assured the public the automaker is working to keep the production stoppage from elongating. As the spokesman noted, demand for the C8 Corvette remains strong, so we don’t expect this stoppage to hurt that, but if problems were to become more common that might change.
The last time we saw a shutdown of Bowling Green Assembly was in late August, also for a supply chain snarl. We saw another idling of the factory in March of this year. And of course, the production line wasn’t operating for a bit after the tornado ripped through Bowling Green back in December of last year.
GM bragged back in July that it was stocking up on Z06 parts to prevent another shutdown. It would seem the shortage is something which affects all C8 Corvettes, not just the Z06, otherwise that would be the only stoppage for this week. We’re sure speculation over what it could be is running wild.
In an entirely unrelated matter, GM famously started pressuring its suppliers to sign on with an aggressive ESG pledge. The “Environmental, Social, and Governance Partnership Pledge” would hold suppliers to certain standards not everyone thinks are good or worthwhile. Still, with financial pressure from banks and investors, ESG has become a trend thing for big corporations to use and strongarm smaller companies into compliance or bankruptcy.
Source: The Detroit News
Photos via GM
