The photo was taken by Amelia Krales.
If you are looking to buy a Chevrolet this winter, you might want to invest in a warmer pair of sweatpants: the company has announced that due to the ongoing chip shortage, it will no longer be able to offer heated or ventilated seats on virtually.
In a letter to dealers obtained by automotive news, GM said that taking these measures will allow continued production and delivery of inventory to help respond to the strong customer and dealer demand for all their products.
The change went into effect on November 15th and affects a wide range of Chevy and GMC vehicles. Most of the SUVs and trucks of the future won't have heated seats, as one Chevy dealer explained on TikTok. Steering wheels are going to get the axe on November 22nd on most models, as well as seat warmers.
Most models don't have steering wheels or heated seats.
The change is intended to be temporary as GM tries to wrangle more chips but is expected to impact the entire model year. The buyers will get credit towards their new car if it's $150 to $500.
The lack of heated seats is one of the more tangible impacts of the chip shortage on cars yet and speaks to just how important chips are to modern cars, even for features like seat warmers, which you wouldn't necessarily be reliant on. It is the latest in a series of issues with chips for cars, which have also seen some models remove touchscreens.
In an announcement to dealers, GM said that it was able to bring back digital temperature displays, side blind spot alert, and Super Cruise driver-assist technology thanks to better supplies of chips.
