Why is There a Field of Lonely New Trucks in Genesee County?

It's definitely not something you see every day. Trucks for as far as the eye can see sitting in the middle of a Mt. Morris field.  Not old rusted out trucks, but brand new General Motors trucks just sitting there.

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It was just a few weeks ago that GM announced that it would pause production at eight North American plants during the next two weeks due to a worldwide computer chip shortage. Even though the chips are on "backorder" so to speak, but GM is continuing to kick out the trucks.The plan is to install the chips after the fact.

"When there is a shortage of semiconductors that impacts production, in some cases we intend to build vehicles without certain modules and will complete them as soon as possible. It’s better for our customers, dealers, and employees at the plant as opposed to not building at all. Importantly, it will help us quickly meet the strong customer demand for our products as more semiconductors become available and we are able to complete the vehicles at the assembly plants and ship them to dealers", David Barnas with General Motors said in a statement.

So where to you keep all those trucks after you make them, and while they are in the holding pattern for the chips? Well, a field in Mt. Morris of course. The rows of perfectly lined trucks will sit tight until the shortage is resolved, and then make their way to dealerships across the country.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=282377237058785

Covid-19 is basically to blame for the ongoing chip shortage. The ongoing pandemic increased the demand for personal electronics like gaming systems, cell phone, and laptops which all use the chips. Production facilities across the globe just couldn't keep up with the influx of demand.