The Detroit automaker said in a regulatory filing Friday that most of the unfinished vehicles were built in June and it expects most of them to be completed and sold to dealers before the end of the year. Unsold vehicles accounted for 16 percent of GM’s total sales from April to June. The company said Friday it sold more than 582,000 vehicles during the quarter, down more than 15 percent from a year ago. In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson said only a small percentage of these vehicles, which will be completed later, were intended for Canadian dealers. The company reaffirmed its full-year net income guidance of US$9.6 billion to US$11.2 billion with pre-tax profit of US$13 billion to US$15 billion. For the first time, the company forecast that it would earn $2.3 billion to $2.6 billion before taxes in the second quarter. That was below analysts’ estimates of $3.97 billion, according to FactSet. Chip shortages have plagued automakers around the world since 2020, forcing many automakers to temporarily close factories and curtail production. The shortage has limited the supply of new vehicles on dealer lots in the U.S. to about 1 million, when in normal years it’s about 4 million at any given time. This pushed prices to record levels and limited vehicle selection, but also led to strong profits for most automakers. In a prepared statement, GM said its North American production had been relatively stable since the third quarter of last year, but short-term parts outages continued. “We are actively working with our suppliers to resolve issues that arise to meet customer demand for our vehicles,” the statement said. Most automakers have forecast little improvement in chip shortages in the first half of the year, with much better supplies from July to December. GM shares were down slightly at $31.69 on Friday morning after the filing was made public.
