General Motors chief executive Mary Barra has said the automaker plans to make changes in its supply chain to help cope with the continuing semiconductor chip crisis that has forced significant production cuts.
“We’re going to make some pretty substantial shifts in our supply chain,” Barra said in an online interview monitored by Reuters.
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“We’re already working much deeper into the tiered supply base because generally General Motors doesn’t buy chips (directly) but (our suppliers do). But now we’re building direct relationships with the manufacturers.”
A GM spokesman declined to comment further to Reuters on how the company might shift its supply chain.
The news agency noted that, this week, the White House and the US Commerce Department plan a meeting on the chip crisis which has caused production cuts by automakers around the world.
Last week, GM said it had doubled the number of units the semiconductor shortage would cost it in the second half.
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By GlobalDataBarra said the issue was a “solvable problem, but it’s going to be here a little longer”.
Interviewed by Delta Air Lines chief Ed Bastian as part of a series of discussions with fellow CEOs, she said some newer GM vehicles have up to 30% more chips than other vehicles.
“As customer needs are shifting, we need more and more semiconductors,” Barra said, saying GM was looking for short-, medium- and long-term solutions to the shortage.
