Ford F 2.45% Motor Co. is planning more downtime at five North American factories due to a global semiconductor shortage, further disrupting output of a popular sport-utility vehicle and the F-150 pickup truck, the company’s biggest moneymaker.
The Dearborn, Mich., auto maker said Wednesday that factories in Chicago, suburban Detroit and Kansas City, Mo., will be idled for an additional two weeks, extending the closures through May 14. An SUV plant in Ontario will also take an extra week of downtime in early May.
The latest shutdowns further curb production of the Explorer full-size SUV and Transit vans. Output of the F-150 also will remain limited. Work resumed Monday at Ford’s truck plant near its headquarters in suburban Detroit after a two-week pause, but production was halted at its second pickup plant, in Kansas City last week, and that site will remain down through May 10.
Since early this year, the semiconductor shortage has forced global auto makers to intermittently cancel factory shifts and shuffle production schedules to divert chips to high-priority vehicles, primarily pickup trucks and larger SUVs that generate bigger profits.
Still, Ford has been forced to cancel weeks of production at its two F-150 plants, crimping supply of a model that generates the bulk of its global profit.
Ford estimated in February that the disruption from the chip shortage could hurt operating profit by $1 billion to $2.5 billion this year. The company is expected to update investors when it reports first-quarter earnings next week.
General Motors Co. has halted production at at least a half-dozen North American factories this year because of the chip shortage. It has managed to avoid downtime at the four plants that make big pickups or full-size SUVs, the company has said. GM relies on those models for most of its bottom line.
Toyota Motor Corp. , Volkswagen AG and Stellantis NV, formerly Fiat Chrysler, have halted or altered production due to supply-chain snags in recent weeks.
Analysts have estimated the chip shortage could cost the auto industry tens of billions of dollars in 2021.
Ford also said Wednesday a heavy-duty truck plant near Cleveland will continue to produce only select models through mid-May. It also announced additional downtime and altered schedules at several factories in Europe.
Hourly workers at GM, Ford and Stellantis factories in the U.S. are represented by the United Auto Workers union and are placed on layoff status during unscheduled downtime. In addition to unemployment benefits, the companies provide unionized workers with supplemental pay under their labor contracts.
Write to Nora Naughton at [email protected]
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Appeared in the April 22, 2021, print edition as ‘Ford to Extend Pause at Factories.’
