GM extends production halt of Chevrolet Bolt amid safety hazard

General Motors Co said on Thursday it will extend the shutdown of a Michigan assembly plant to mid-October amid the recall of its Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles.

The new recall comes over battery issues after reports of 12 fires and three injuries. GM said production at its Orion Assembly will be halted until at least October 15.

The U.S. automaker also said that due to the shortage of semiconductor chips, it is cutting production at six other North American assembly plants.

GM said until it is not fully satisfied that the recall remedy will take care of the fire risk issue, it won’t resume production or sales of Bolt.

In August, the company increased its recall of Bolt to more than 140,000 vehicles to replace battery modules.

Earlier this month, due to chip shortage, GM had to temporarily halt production at most North American assembly plants.

The new production cuts include a plant in Lansing that makes the Chevrolet Traverse and the Buick Enclave.

In Mexico and Canada, the automaker is cutting production of SUVs like the Chevrolet Equinox, Blazer and GMC Terrain.

GM is also planning to cut production at Michigan and Kansas plants that build Chevrolet Camaro and Malibu cars.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Picture Credits: Reuters