General Motors (GM 4.37%) will boost production at several U.S. factories and reopen others, starting Monday, as it continues to restore production that was idled in March due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
GM said that it will resume round-the-clock production at three U.S. factories that build its highly profitable pickup trucks. Dealer supplies of pickup trucks have grown tight, as pickup sales remained relatively strong while factories were closed in April and early May.
GM's Flint Assembly Plant and two other U.S. truck factories will return to three-shift operation on Monday, GM said. Image source: General Motors.
Those GM pickup factories -- in Flint, Michigan; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Wentzville, Missouri -- were reopened on May 18 with one shift of workers at each location. The company had originally planned to add shifts earlier this week, but it was forced to postpone the ramp-up as some of its Mexico-based suppliers needed additional time to increase production.
GM will also add a second shift of workers on Monday at three factories in the U.S. and Canada that build its popular line of crossover SUVs, including the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Acadia. The company will also restart five other U.S. assembly plants on a single shift, including the Texas factory that builds full-size SUVs including the Chevrolet Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade.
In a statement issued late on Thursday, GM said that so far, its production restarts have gone smoothly.
"Our comprehensive safety procedures are working well, and our suppliers have done a great job implementing their return-to-work strategies and safety playbooks," the company said. "We are now in a position to increase production to meet strengthening customer demand and strong dealer demand."
