Car sales plunge as chip shortages stifle supply

General Motors said its sales fell by a third from a year ago in the last quarter, and were down 40% from the same quarter of 2019 before the pandemic hit the market. automobile. The company highlighted disruptions in the semiconductor supply chain and historically low inventory.

The auto industry has faced a shortage of computer chips needed to build cars for over a year. DG (DG) said he expects the situation to improve in the last three months of 2021, but earlier this year automakers had hoped things would have improved at this point. Instead, GM was forced to temporarily shut down production at most of its North American factories.

“The semiconductor supply disruptions that affected our wholesale and customer shipments in the third quarter are improving,” the nation’s largest automaker said in a statement. “As we look into the fourth quarter, a constant flow of vehicles held in factories will continue to be distributed to dealerships, we are restarting production in major crossover and car factories, and we look forward to a favorable environment. ‘more stable operation until the fall. “

Other automakers are expected to release their results later Friday or Monday.

The vehicle shortage also drove record prices for new and used cars for much of this year, which also weighed on sales as some buyers were shut out of the new car market.

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