2021 Ford F-150 Limited
Ford
DETROIT: Ford Motor is once again cutting production from its cost-effective F-150 pickup truck and two more vehicles next week due to the global shortage of semiconductor chips.
The automaker confirmed Thursday that the Oakville assembly plant in Canada and the Kansas City assembly plant in Missouri will fall the week of Aug. 30. Oakville builds Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus crossovers. Kansas City assembles the F-150.
Ford will also cut two of the three shifts next week at the Dearborn truck plant in Michigan, which produces the F-150.
“Our teams continue to make the most of our available semiconductor allocation, finding unique solutions to provide as many high-quality vehicles as possible to our dealers and customers,” the company said in a statement.
The Kansas City plant had already collapsed this week due to a shortage of chips.
The shortage of parts has led to shutdowns of car assembly plants around the world throughout this year. Ford has been particularly hard hit by the lack of chips, and lost about 50% of expected production in the second quarter.
The origin of the shortage dates back to early last year, when Covid caused rotating shutdowns of vehicle assembly plants. When the facility closed, suppliers of wafers and chips diverted the parts to other sectors, such as consumer electronics, which were not expected to be so affected by home orders.
According to consulting firm AlixPartners, the problem will cost the global auto industry $ 110 billion in revenue by 2021.