Ford will shut down its Kentucky plant for a week if the auto industry struggles with a shortage of semiconductors, ABC News The carmaker’s assembly plant in Louisville manufactures the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair SUVs, and employs about 3,900 hourly workers, according to CNBC. Ford said it would undertake a planned one-week shutdown, scheduled for later in the year, and move it to this week.
Ford joins Nissan, which says it will reduce production at one of its plants in Japan, making the Note, a car not sold in the US. A Nissan spokesman said the shortage of semiconductors did not affect US production in the United States
Volkswagen, Fiat Chrysler and Toyota also reported problems with semiconductor supply chains, while Fiat Chrysler temporarily closed factories in Canada and Mexico. Volkswagen said in December it had changed some of its vehicles’ production at plants in North America, Europe and China.
Vehicles use more semiconductors than they previously did for features such as infotainment, driver assistance and Bluetooth connectivity, and in recent months the demand for vehicles has exceeded supply. Factories manufacturing semiconductors had to be shut down during the coronavirus pandemic, which also contributed to the delay in the production of personal computers, and affected the production of Apple’s iPhone 12.