Tag: ford

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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Chip shortage forces Ford to build trucks without computers

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The move is the latest ripple from the global semiconductor shortage, which earlier this week forced Honda and Toyota to announce production cuts at some North American factories.

A global semiconductor shortage and a February winter storm have combined to force Ford to build F-150 pickup trucks without some computers.

The company says the pickups will be held at factories for “a number of weeks”, then shipped to dealers once computers are available and quality checks are done.

The move is the latest ripple from the global semiconductor shortage, which earlier this week forced Honda and Toyota to announce production cuts at some North American factories. General Motors also has been forced to build pickups without some computers and install them later.

Ford’s move is likely to tighten inventory of F-Series pickups, the top-selling vehicles in America. Inventories already are tight due to high demand and production losses due to last year’s coronavirus-related factory shutdowns.

Ford also said it will build the Edge SUV without computers and ship them later, and it will cancel some shifts on March 18 and 19 at an assembly plant in Louisville, Kentucky, where the Ford Escape SUV is made.

Automakers have said they don’t expect the chip shortage to get any better before the third quarter of the year. Ford has said the shortage could cut its pretax earnings by $1 billion to $2.5 billion, even if it makes up for some of the lost production in the second half of the year.

On March 18, Nissan too announced it would temporarily cancel production at factories in Smyrna, Tennessee; Canton, Mississippi; and in Aguascalientes, Mexico, due to the chip shortage. Some U.S. production lines will be down from March 19 through 22, while others will be idled just for the weekend. Aguascalientes Plant 1 will stop production through March 23.

Affected models include the Murano, Rogue, Maxima, Leaf, Altima, NV Vans, Kicks, Versa and March.

In addition, Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler (now Stellantis) also say they have been affected by the shortage and forced to delay production of some models in order to keep other factories running.

Industry officials say semiconductor companies diverted production to consumer electronics during the worst of the COVID-19 slowdown in auto sales last spring. Global automakers were forced to close plants to prevent the spread of the virus. When automakers recovered, there weren’t enough chips as demand for personal electronics boomed.

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Tesla, Ford only carmakers not gone bankrupt: Elon Musk – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: As several carmakers bleed in the US and beyond, Tesla is profitable and according to Elon Musk, his electric car company and Ford are the only two carmakers in the US which have not gone bankrupt.
Tesla reported another profitable quarter as revenue hit $10.74 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020. In last year, Tesla achieved free cash flow of nearly $2.8 billion after spending more than $3 billion on building new factories and other expenditures.
US automaker Ford last month announced to more than double its investment in electric and autonomous vehicles to $29 billion. The automaker had previously committed to spend $11.5 billion on electrifying its vehicle lineup through 2022.
“Tesla, Ford are the only American carmakers not to have gone bankrupt out of 1000’s of car startups. Prototypes are easy, production is hard being cash flow positive is excruciating,” Musk said in a tweet on Friday.
Ford CEO Jim Farley responded to his tweet, saying: “Respect”. In 2020, Tesla produced and delivered half a million vehicles. In addition, Model Y production in Shanghai has begun.

Tesla this year also registered its Indian subsidiary with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) in Bengaluru, on January 8.
“2020 was a defining year for us on many levels. Despite a challenging environment, we’ve reached an important milestone of producing and delivering 0.5 million cars,” Musk had said.
On the other hand, Ford’s increased investment is aimed at catching up with the EV market leader Tesla and keep pace with other automakers like GM and Volkswagen.
“We are accelerating our plans right now, breaking constraints, increasing battery capacity, improving our costs and getting more battery electrics into our cycle plan,” Ford CEO Farley said last month.



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