General Motors Facility Turned Into A Parking Lot

The General Motors Components Holdings facility has essentially been turned into a large GM parking lot because of some missing items.

The area has been surrounded by fences and is monitored by a contractor. The reason for this parking dilemma isn’t because there’s anything wrong with the latest batch of GM vehicles, but they are missing something.

This past year has been crazy for nearly every industry. One area you may not have expected to bit hit as hard is the semiconductor chip market. GM didn’t want to waste time waiting for the chips to go back into production, so it manufactured its vehicles with the intent of storing them until these critical parts are back in circulation.

Many local dealerships have expressed that many of these vehicles in storage have already been sold to customers. These customers just have to wait, however.

One of the most controversial elements of the superconductor chip shortage is how GM is trying to solve the problem. Reports show that GM is investing $1 billion in Mexico. The problem is that local plants in areas like Kokomo requested the ability to bring these chips to market. It’s not like the Kokomo plant can’t handle the mass production of these parts. Workers in these plants made these and similar parts from the 1980s until 2017 when chip production ceased. GM supposedly looked into restarting the chip line at the Kokomo plant, but nothing ever came of it. GM claimed it would cost too much to get things moving again, which was taken as quite the jab when the $1 billion investment in Mexican plants was revealed.

Local union reps and politicians have weight in on the decision and hope to persuade GM to keep at least some of the work on American soil. Many claims that GM is merely trying to keep their workforce costs down while getting these much-needed chips in production. Drivers are already waiting on their new purchases.

Others argue that GM is attempting to increase their profit line, and getting chips into cars quickly isn’t the main motivation.

The good news is that GM also has plans to create new American jobs with a commitment to build 30 new global electric vehicles by 2025. As GM transitions to more electric cars, trucks, and SUVs, the number of workers needed will increase. New facilities in Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee are expected to create just under 10,000 jobs in those areas.

Some employees in Kokomo are happy that GM’s dedication to electric vehicles is creating new American jobs, but they don’t think General Motors is doing enough. There are people at the Kokomo factory who are capable and willing to get semiconductor chips off the line and into waiting vehicles.

Only time will tell how GM’s decisions will impact jobs across the US. Many are still hopeful that a new commitment to electric vehicles will open the doors to new jobs nationwide.