In late January, retired General Motors employee Joseph Jones bought a 2021 GMC Sierra full-size pickup after having driven his 2004 Sierra for 17 years. Jones, 68, tracked the production of the new light-duty pickup in cherry red from his home in Franklin, Tennessee. He saw that it was built on Feb. 15 at GM's Silao Assembly Plant in Mexico, so he eagerly awaited its arrival any day. But as of May 5, Jones' pickup remained in Mexico, parked alongside thousands of other GM pickups built shy of the final parts needed to complete them because of a global semiconductor chip shortage. "I am getting more aggravated by the day," Jones said. "The customers are stuck in the middle and I would love better communication through General Motors. I know everybody has been in the same situation, Ford, GM, Chrysler, Nissan ... everybody has been held hostage by the shortage of this chip.”