Ford to partly assemble some vehicles, idle two plants due to global chip shortage

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The trucks and SUVs being assembled without certain parts include some electronic modules with the scarce chips, Ford said

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Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it for now will assemble its flagship, highly profitable F-150 pickup trucks and Edge SUVs in North America without certain parts and idle two assembly plants due to the global semiconductor chip shortage.

The U.S. automaker said the chip shortage, combined with the shortage of a part caused by the central U.S. winter storm, is prompting it to build the vehicles and then hold them “for a number of weeks” until they can be completed and shipped. The affected vehicles number in the “thousands,” a spokeswoman said.

Ford said it is also idling production at plants in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cologne, Germany.

The costs associated with these actions are covered in the Dearborn, Michigan-based company’s previous forecast that profits this year could be hit by $1 billion to $2.5 billion due to the chip shortage.

Also Read | Global semiconductor shortage spurs run on vintage chipmaking tools

The trucks and SUVs being assembled without certain parts include some electronic modules with the scarce chips, Ford said. It did not identify suppliers of the affected parts, but a spokeswoman said the parts needed for the F-150 and Edge vehicles are tied to basic vehicle functions, such as windshield wiper motors and infotainment systems.

Ford is canceling the late shift on Thursday and both shifts on Friday at its Louisville Assembly Plant, which builds the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair SUVs. Production is expected to resume on short shifts on Monday and full production the following day.

In Cologne, where the Fiesta car is built, the plant is being idled March 1-16 and March 22. The company did not say what volume was being lost due to that action.

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Tesla names Musk ‘Technoking’ in cryptic regulatory filing

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Last month, Tesla revealed it had purchased $1.5 billion of bitcoin and would soon accept it as a form of payment for cars, sending the price of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency soaring

(Subscribe to our Today’s Cache newsletter for a quick snapshot of top 5 tech stories. Click here to subscribe for free.)

Tesla Inc added “Technoking of Tesla” to billionaire Chief Executive Elon Musk’s list of official titles on Monday in a formal regulatory filing that also named finance chief Zachary Kirkhorn “Master of Coin”.

The electric-car maker did not elaborate on the reasons for the cryptic new titles in a pair of statements that also said President of Automotive Jerome Guillen had moved to the role of President for Tesla Heavy Trucking, effective March 11.

Also Read | Elon Musk wants clean power, but Tesla’s carrying bitcoin’s dirty baggage

Last month, Tesla revealed it had purchased $1.5 billion of bitcoin and would soon accept it as a form of payment for cars, sending the price of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency soaring.

Musk’s recent promotion of dogecoin on Twitter has also lifted the price of that cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin hit new highs of near $62,000 over the weekend but retreated around 5% early in the European day on Monday.

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