Ford Motor Co. displays a new 2021 Ford F-150 pickup at the Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan, September 17, 2020.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
Ford Motor said Thursday that the global shortage of semiconductor chips and winter storms affecting the availability of other parts in the U.S. is causing it to cancel shifts at two plants and build F-150 pickups and Edge SUVs without certain parts.
The automaker plans to complete the construction of the F-150 and Edge models within a few weeks when the parts, including semiconductor electronic components, become available. The number of vehicles affected is expected to be ‘a thousand’, according to a Ford spokesman. She did not want to be specific anymore due to the variability of the chip shortage.
The production cancellations include three shifts until Friday at a plant in Kentucky that produces Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair crossovers. Ford also confirmed a halt earlier this month, as well as next week a day in a factory in Germany that manufactures the Ford Fiesta car, which is no longer sold in the US
Ford’s actions are the latest as the car industry tries to address the global chip shortage. The consulting firm AlixPartners estimates the shortage of chips to cut $ 60.6 billion in revenue from the global automotive industry this year.
Ford said the chip shortage could cut its earnings by $ 1 billion to $ 2.5 billion this year.
Ford’s biggest rival, General Motors, had earlier confirmed that it was also partially building pickups in an effort to keep factories running amid the shortage of chips. GM expects the chip shortage to reduce from $ 1.5 billion to $ 2.5 billion of its free cash flow by 2021.