DETROIT — Ford Motor Co mentioned on Thursday it for now will assemble its flagship, extremely profitable F-150 pickup trucks and Edge SUVs in North America without having particular sections and idle two assembly vegetation owing to the world-wide semiconductor chip lack.
The U.S. automaker claimed the chip scarcity, merged with the scarcity of a part caused by the central U.S. winter season storm, is prompting it to create the motor vehicles and then hold them “for a number of months” right up until they can be completed and delivered. The affected autos quantity in the “1000’s,” a spokeswoman claimed.
Ford claimed it is also idling generation at plants in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cologne, Germany.
The prices related with these steps are included in the Dearborn, Michigan-based mostly company’s prior forecast that earnings this yr could be strike by $1 billion to $2.5 billion thanks to the chip lack.
The shortage, which has strike automakers globally, stems from a confluence of factors. Carmakers shut plants for two months all through the COVID-19 pandemic final 12 months and canceled chip orders. Meanwhile, demand for chips susred from the shopper electronics business as folks worked from property and played video clip games. Now carmakers have to contend for chips.
Final thirty day period, Ford cut shifts at two vegetation that make the complete-sizing F-150 vans, a move that adopted generation cuts of other cars. Ford, like other automakers, has stated it will prioritize and allocate chips to its greatest-margin cars when it can.
On Monday, General Motors Co mentioned it was making some gentle-duty complete-sizing pickups without having a gas administration module, shaving a mile per gallon from gasoline overall economy. GM formerly mentioned the chip shortage could lower up to $2 billion from this year’s gains.
The Ford vans and SUVs becoming assembled without the need of selected areas incorporate some digital modules with the scarce chips, Ford claimed. It did not recognize suppliers of the affected elements, but a spokeswoman claimed the areas necessary for the F-150 and Edge vehicles are tied to standard features, this kind of as windshield wiper motors and infotainment devices.
Ford is canceling the late change on Thursday and the two shifts on Friday at its Louisville Assembly Plant, which builds the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair SUVs. Production is anticipated to resume on shorter shifts on Monday and full manufacturing the adhering to day.
In Cologne, where the Fiesta automobile is crafted, the plant is currently being idled March 1-16 and March 22. The company did not say what quantity was remaining misplaced due to that action.