General Motors, Honda and Toyota sales hit by chip shortages

Three of the largest car and truck dealers in the United States on Friday reported total sales that reflect the intense pressure a global semiconductor shortage has placed on auto production.

General Motors and Honda both reported sharp declines in sales in the three months ending September, as chip shortages forced them to shut down factories, leaving dealerships with few vehicles to offer customers.

Toyota saw a slight increase for the quarter, but sales in September fell sharply after being forced to cut global production due to chip shortages and other disruptions to its parts supply due to the pandemic of coronavirus.

At General Motors, sales fell 33 percent in the quarter. The automaker sold 446,997 vehicles, a sharp drop from the same period last year, when it sold 665,192 light trucks and cars. In the same quarter of 2019, GM sold 738,638 vehicles.

Honda sales fell 11 percent in the quarter, to 354,914 cars and trucks. But a drop of nearly 25 percent in September from the previous year showed increasing pressure on production.

Toyota said its sales in the quarter were about 1% higher than a year earlier, at 566,005. But sales for September were down 22%.

General Motors does not publish monthly sales figures.

The global semiconductor shortage has forced manufacturers to shut their factories for weeks, leaving dealers with tight stocks of cars and trucks to sell. At the end of September, GM had only 128,757 vehicles in dealer inventories, up from 211,974 at the end of June.

The company stressed that customer demand was not the issue. “The underlying demand conditions remain strong, thanks to the many job openings, the growing demand for refouled vehicles and the excess savings accumulated by many households during the pandemic,” said Elaine Buckberg, chief economist of GM, in a statement.

And the company reported that the chip supply situation is improving. “We look forward to a more stable operating environment through the fall,” said Steve Carlisle, president of GM North America.

GM dealers had more than 334,000 vehicles in stock at the end of the first quarter. In years past, GM often kept around 800,000 vehicles in dealer inventories.