FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Amidst the hoopla surrounding General Motors’ announcement that the company reported a 16 percent increase in net income during the fourth quarter last year came news that it solidified itself as the No. 1 producer of pickup trucks.

And that’s partly thanks to the plant in Fort Wayne, according to president of General Motors North American operations Steve Carlisle.

The plant builds Chevrolet Silverados and GMC Sierras pickup trucks and helped the company build a sizable lead over its next competitor in full-size, light-duty and heavy-duty truck sales, according to Carlisle.

“That gave us record retail market share, on the GMC side in particular,” Carlisle said. “We are very proud of that.”

Output at the Fort Wayne plant came during a stretch where a computer chip semiconductor shortage left many trucks “build-shy” – meaning they were mostly finished but unusable until the chips could be procured and brought stateside.

The company stored thousands of trucks at various locations around Fort Wayne while awaiting shipment of the chips and afterward when carriers did not have means to deliver them when finished.

Carlisle said if anyone went out to those lots today, they’d see fewer of those trucks being stored there since shipping has picked up.

“Part of the above and beyond story with Fort Wayne this year is we did build a lot of these vehicles, as we say, ‘build-shy,'” Carlisle said. “Recovering from that in the fourth quarter quickly and getting them on the way, to fiddling with the logistics systems and getting them to dealers and customers, the team (in Fort Wayne) did an outstanding job on that.”

While company officials do not expect another chip shortage or shipping problems, Carlisle said they are “prepared for the worst while hoping for the best.”

Carlisle added that Fort Wayne is set to roll the 10 millionth truck out of the local plant this spring and that there is currently a multi-million dollar renovation at the plant that will improve a cafeteria, break rooms and restrooms.

“This is more of a renewal of infrastructure,” Carlisle said. “It’s kind of where you live, when you work in a plant. We want people to want to come to work and recognize our workplace as this great workplace.”