Photo: Chevrolet
The chip shortage is bad for every company in the car industry, but it’s not the only problem that affects car manufacturing. In the latest move, GM decided to build six popular Chevy models without ventilated seat blower motors. This comes in addition to the missing control modules that were already under constraint due to microchip shortages.
Ever since the pandemic eased its grip on the automotive industry, the problems kept piling up for carmakers and suppliers alike. Although people could go to work now, the car industry soon discovered there are not enough electronic chips left on the market for them, as the electronics industry eats everything available and then some. This is ongoing, but other parts are also hard to find. And the cherry on the cake was the war in Ukraine, which raised the prices of raw materials to unsustainable levels.
To alleviate the problems, car manufacturers have started to deliver cars without some non-critical features, thus saving on precious chips. This didn’t help much though, so Ford decided to deliver cars without critical features, as long as those are not safety-related. Chip shortages are bad, of course, but are not the only problem. GM announced that Chevrolet has started to build select models without ventilated seat blower motors.
To be sure, the ventilated seats were already under constraint, due to the missing chips for the controller module. We’re not sure that one has to do with another but, according to GM Authority, Chevrolet already builds six popular models not only without the controllers but without the ventilated seat blower motors as well. The models affected are the Blazer, Silverado 1500, Silverado HD, Suburban, Tahoe, and Traverse.
The good news is that both the controllers and the blower motors will be eligible for a retrofit at a later date. The window stickers will indicate which features are missing on the affected models. In the past months, various component shortages have also affected the availability of the heated steering wheel feature, heated front seats, heated outboard rear seats, Rear Park Assist, and Front And Rear Park Assist on some GM models.
To alleviate the problems, car manufacturers have started to deliver cars without some non-critical features, thus saving on precious chips. This didn’t help much though, so Ford decided to deliver cars without critical features, as long as those are not safety-related. Chip shortages are bad, of course, but are not the only problem. GM announced that Chevrolet has started to build select models without ventilated seat blower motors.
To be sure, the ventilated seats were already under constraint, due to the missing chips for the controller module. We’re not sure that one has to do with another but, according to GM Authority, Chevrolet already builds six popular models not only without the controllers but without the ventilated seat blower motors as well. The models affected are the Blazer, Silverado 1500, Silverado HD, Suburban, Tahoe, and Traverse.
The good news is that both the controllers and the blower motors will be eligible for a retrofit at a later date. The window stickers will indicate which features are missing on the affected models. In the past months, various component shortages have also affected the availability of the heated steering wheel feature, heated front seats, heated outboard rear seats, Rear Park Assist, and Front And Rear Park Assist on some GM models.
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