General Motors announced Wednesday that it will extend the production shutdown of its Chevrolet Bolt by two weeks, as production of new battery modules from LG ramps up. The automaker will prioritize recall-related repairs on older Bolts before hitting the restart button at its assembly plants.
Recall that GM expanded its Bolt recall to more than 140,000 units this past August to replace battery modules to address the much-publicized fire hazard caused by faulty batteries supplied by LG Chem and LG Electronics. GM's Orion plant in Michigan has been shut down since August 23 and will be until at least the end of October.
GM also said it will eliminate three more weeks of production for its Equinox model, this time at the Ramos, Mexico plant. In this case the global semiconductor shortage is to blame.
In regard to the Bolt, there’s also good news for GM, as partner and supplier LG has agreed to pick up much of the bill for the recall, which is estimated to be around $2 billion. An announcement by LG confirms it will absorb about $1.2 billion of that.
GM said on Sept. 20 that battery production for the Bolt had resumed and that replacement of the units in existing models was expected to begin in mid-October. LG has established new manufacturing processes and has been working with GM to “review and enhance its quality assurance programs to provide confidence in its batteries moving forward.”
