Ingersol, Ontario — The Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday that General Motors’ CAMI plant in Ingersol, Ont. will extend its summer shutdown through to the end of the month, citing parts shortages.
The plant, where BrightDrop’s Zevo 600 electric delivery van is built, confirmed to media Wednesday that its regularly scheduled summer closure will last a little longer, while keen industry observers speculate on this otherwise unreported parts shortage for GM.
“CAMI observed GM’s annual Summer Shutdown the weeks of July 3 and July 10,” GM Canada spokesperson Monte Doran told the Detroit Free Press in an email. “We extended shutdown for the weeks of July 17 and July 24 to help us manage through parts availability issues, with regular operations resuming on Monday, July 31.”
Shop Chair of Unifor’s Local 88 Mike Van Boekel attributes this shutdown to the slim availability of battery materials to the automotive industry.
“They’re out at all GM plants, they need batteries and it stems from a raw material bottleneck,” Van Boekel told the London Free Press. “Sales are through the roof. Things are good, but we just don’t have batteries.”
Van Boekel also sent a message to the Detroit Free Press, via his union vice president, that he “is unwilling to confirm or deny the specifics around the GM part shortage only that Unifor represents the workers at the Ingersoll facility and is not necessarily privy to specifics of GM’s parts inventory.”
GM spokesman David Caldwell told the Detroit Free Press only that it is “a parts availability issue—not involving battery raw materials, not involving battery cells.”
Luckily for GM, Caldwell says the legacy automaker has already blown away its 2023 production target of 50,000 EVs built.
“There’s no change to our previously stated targets for the second half of 2023 and into 2024,” Caldwell said. “Both cell production and Ultium Platform production are on the rise. We’re planning to provide an update on EV production at earnings next week — specifically during the call with investors.”
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