GM halts Shreveport pickup production after Japan quake disrupts parts supply
General Motors will idle its Shreveport, Louisiana plant for at least a week as parts shortages linked to Japan’s earthquake hit North American pickup output.
General Motors will suspend production at its Shreveport Assembly plant in Louisiana for the week of 21 March, as a shortage of Japanese-sourced parts following the earthquake and tsunami forces the first major North American plant shutdown by a US automaker.
The Shreveport facility builds the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon compact pickups. Both models rely on a five-speed manual transmission supplied by Aisin Seiki, a Japanese company whose own factories have been disrupted by the 11 March earthquake. Aisin has also suspended overtime at its North American operations, further limiting availability of the affected transmission.
GM said the shutdown is not permanent and that it is monitoring the situation. The company has not indicated when production might resume, as the duration depends on parts supply from Japan. This marks the first time a US-based manufacturer has been forced to stop North American vehicle production due to shortages caused by the Japanese disaster.
Impact on workers and supply chain
About 900 workers at Shreveport are affected. GM stated that employees will be able to claim state unemployment benefits and will also receive supplemental pay from the company, amounting to roughly 70% of their usual wages during the stoppage. Union and company officials were expected to meet for further discussions on the shutdown’s implications.
The disruption highlights the vulnerability of global supply chains to natural disasters, particularly when key components are sourced from a single region. Japanese suppliers such as Aisin Seiki are critical to North American production of certain models, and the earthquake’s impact has rippled across the industry. Other Japanese carmakers have extended their own plant shutdowns, and pigment production for automotive paints was also disrupted, though some facilities have since resumed operations (see Xirallic pigment plant in Japan restarts after earthquake disruption).
Models affected by the shutdown
- Chevrolet Colorado (compact pickup, Shreveport Assembly)
- GMC Canyon (compact pickup, Shreveport Assembly)
No other GM North American plants have been reported as directly affected by the Japanese parts shortage at this stage. The company previously experienced a separate production halt for the Chevrolet Cruze in early March after a fire at a Michigan-based supplier, but this was unrelated to the Japan quake.
Outlook for resumption of pickup production
GM has not provided a timeline for restarting Shreveport operations. The company said it will continue to monitor the situation as Japanese suppliers assess their own recovery. The scale of the earthquake’s impact on the wider automotive supply chain remains uncertain, with other manufacturers and suppliers in Japan also facing ongoing disruptions (see Japanese Carmakers Extend Plant Shutdowns After Earthquake).
