General Motors Co., the largest U.S. automaker, will suspend production at its Shreveport Assembly plant in Louisiana for a week starting Monday because of a parts shortage resulting from the crisis in Japan.
All other GM plants in North America will continue to run normal operations, the Detroit-based automaker said Thursday in a statement on its website. GM has enough vehicles to meet customer demand, and production at Shreveport will resume "as soon as possible," the company said.
GM is suspending production earlier than expected, said Tracy Handler, a production analyst at researcher IHS Automotive. Chrysler Group LLC said Wednesday it could take four to six weeks for Japan's disaster to affect its supply chain.
"We didn't expect for this ripple to hit quite this fast for North American plants," said Handler, who is based in Northville, Mich.
The Shreveport facility has 923 employees and makes the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups, according to GM's website. Canyon sales in the U.S. last year fell 21 percent to 7,992 vehicles, and Colorado deliveries dropped 24 percent to 24,642. GM sold 2.22 million vehicles in the U.S. last year.
GM may be suspending Shreveport output earlier than it needs to, to redirect parts to better-selling vehicles, Handler said.