DETROIT (AP)  — The global shortage of computer chips forced General Motors to build 95,000 vehicles without certain components during the second quarter.

The Detroit automaker said in a regulatory filing Friday that most of the incomplete vehicles were built in June and that it expects most of them to be finished and sold to dealers before the end of the year.

The unsold vehicles amounted to 16% of GM's total sales from April through June.

The company said Friday that it sold more than 582,000 vehicles during the quarter, down more than 15% from a year ago.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected the automobile industry, resulting in factories being temporarily closed and production shrinking.

Forbes reported that car sales were almost nonexistent when the U.S. went into lockdown two years ago.

Pre-COVID, the supply of new vehicles on dealer lots around the country was about 4 million. Now, it's about 1 million.

After the filing was released, GM shares fell slightly to $31.69.

New car sales plunged over the last three months in the United States despite strong demand, as the shortage of computer chips and other supply chain issues caused shutdowns at auto factories and choked off the supply of vehicles.General Motors reported sales fell a third from a year-ago last quarter, and they were off 40% from the same quarter of 2019 before the pandemic roiled the car market. Sales at Stellantis, the company formed by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA Group, fell 19% from a year ago, and 27% from the pre-pandemic period.At Toyota Motor, which includes Toyota and Lexus, third quarter sales edged up 1.4% compared to a year ago. But that three-month total includes a 22% plunge in September sales. (The company breaks out monthly sales numbers, unlike GM and Stellantis.) While Toyota has reported fewer supply chain disruptions than other major automakers it, too, has had to cut back production at some factories more recently.So all the automakers pointed to semiconductor supply chain disruptions and historically low inventories as a problem for sales."While the various supply chain issues facing our industry continue to impact available inventory, we know the demand for our vehicles is still there," said Jeff Kommor, U.S. head of sales for Stellantis.The shortage of vehicles has also led to record-high prices for both new and used cars for much of this year, which has also been a drag on sales, as some buyers have been priced out of the new car market.The auto industry has been dealing with a shortage of computer chips needed to build cars for more than a year. GM said it expects the situation will improve in the final three months of 2021, but earlier this year automakers had hoped things would have improved by this point. Instead, GM has been forced to temporarily shut production of most of its North American plants."The semiconductor supply disruptions that impacted our third-quarter wholesale and customer deliveries are improving," said the nation's largest automaker in a statement. "As we look to the fourth quarter, a steady flow of vehicles held at plants will continue to be released to dealers, we are restarting production at key crossover and car plants, and we look forward to a more stable operating environment through the fall."The computer chip shortage started when auto sales plunged in the early weeks of the pandemic, due to record job losses and the temporary closure of many factories and dealerships. Most automakers, expecting a prolonged downturn in sales, trimmed orders for computer chips and other parts. When sales rebounded much faster than anyone expected, the supply of chips had already gone to other customers.While the automakers expected to be able to increase their supply of chips by the middle of this year, they were hit by outbreaks of COVID-19 cases in other regions, such as Southeast Asia, where many of the chip plants were shut. And other supply chain issues, including an imbalance of shipping containers and congestion at the nation's ports, a shortage of truck drivers and general labor shortages, started limiting supplies of other needed parts and raw materials.Other automakers are due to report results later Friday or on Monday.

DETROIT (AP) — The global shortage of computer chips is getting worse, forcing automakers to temporarily close factories including those that build popular pickup trucks.

General Motors announced Thursday that it would pause production at eight North American plants during the next two weeks, including two that make the company's top-selling Chevrolet Silverado pickup.

According to the Associated Press, starting Monday, GM will close its plants in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Silao, Mexico, for a week, a plant in Wentzville, Missouri, for two weeks, and other plants could be closed for two or more weeks.

Ford will stop making pickups at its Kansas City Assembly Plant for the next two weeks.

Shifts will be cut at two more truck plants in Dearborn, Michigan, and Louisville, Kentucky.

Industry analysts say the delta variant of the novel coronavirus has hit employees at chip factories in southeast Asia hard, forcing some plants to close.

That's worsened a chip shortage that was starting to improve earlier in the summer.

Ford and GM aren't the only car makers having to shut down plants due to the chip shortage.

Stellantis closed a plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan this week and its plants in Belvidere, Illinois and Windsor, Ontario will be closed for two weeks.

Nissan, which shutdown its plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, for two weeks until Aug. 30, has now pushed the closure back to four weeks, until Sept. 13.