Ford's second-quarter production was about 50% lower than planned because of chip shortages. The company announced on Thursday that it would cut production of its high-margin Fmur150 pickup truck and two other models again next week, indicating that the "core-missing" crisis continues to worsen and has not been alleviated.
Ford confirmed Thursday that its Oakville (Oakville) assembly plant in Canada and (KansasCity) assembly plant in Kansas City, Missouri will stop production during the week of Aug. 30. The Oakville assembly plant mainly produces Ford sharp (Edge) and Lincoln navigator (Lincoln Nautilus) cross-border SUVs, while the Kansas City assembly plant is responsible for Fmur150 pickup trucks.
In addition, the company will cut three shifts to two shifts at the Dearborn truck plant in Michigan next week, which also produces Fmuri 150 pick-up trucks.
"our team continues to make the best use of existing semiconductor resources to find unique solutions to provide as many high-quality cars as possible to our dealers and customers," Ford said in a statement. "
Car assembly plants around the world have been shut down this year because of a shortage of parts. Among them, Ford is one of the worst-hit companies, its production in the second quarter was about 50% lower than planned, while the situation in the third quarter is still not optimistic.
Ford announced at the end of June that it had halted or cut production at eight Ford plants, including six in the United States, for different periods from July to early August due to a lack of cores. The products affected include Ford Fmur150 pickup trucks, Ford Bronco Sport, Ford Mustang and Ford Explorer.
Ford said last Thursday that it would cut production again at its (Cologne) plant in Cologne, Germany, after an outbreak at a chipmaker in Malaysia caused delivery problems at a module supplier. Production of Ford Fiesta (Fiesta) models will be suspended from August 23 to 28. Production of the Fiesta had been suspended from early May to mid-July because of chip shortages.
Car companies frequently reduce production
In addition to Ford, other car companies have also been forced to announce production cuts because of chip shortages.
Toyota announced last week that it plans to cut global production by 40 per cent (about 350000 vehicles) in September, meaning it will temporarily shut down production lines at several Japanese plants, including its Takaoka plant in Aichi prefecture, from early September. In addition, Toyota's production in North America, China and Europe is likely to be reduced by tens of thousands of vehicles.
GM said on Aug. 19 that it would extend downtime at several crossover and sedan plants because of a global chip shortage.
Germany's Volkswagen Group said on Aug. 19 that it may need to cut production further because of tight supply of semiconductors. "We currently expect the supply of chips in the third quarter to be very volatile and tight." "We cannot rule out further changes in production," Volkswagen said in response to a media request for comment. "
The continuing shortage of semiconductor chips is expected to cost the global auto industry $110 billion in revenue and 3.9 million vehicles in 2021, according to consultancy AlixPartners.
