Ford to Halt Mustang Production
It seems as if auto manufacturers are in unfamiliar waters. The Detroit News reported that General Motors and Ford are dealing with a semiconductor shortage due to the pandemic, causing them to have issues with production limitations and, ultimately, factory closures. The writing may have been on the wall as Ford had already been forced to build F-150’s without a fuel management module, which resulted in a fuel economy loss of 1mpg, which for a full-size truck, makes a difference.
GM was first to halt production of their Camaros entirely last month due to the same semiconductor shortage and is now restarting its midsize truck production next week after two weeks down.
“We continue to work closely with our supply base to find solutions for our suppliers’ semiconductor requirements and to mitigate the impact on GM,” a company spokesperson said in a statement via CarBuzz.
Now, unfortunately, it seems as though Ford’s prized Mustang is next on the halting block. The Mustang plant shutdown will affect the Mustang’s Flat Rock assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan, where most Ponys are built. The semiconductor shortage will also affect other assembly plants, including the Chicago Assembly that builds the Explorer, Police Interceptor, Lincoln Aviator, and even the Kansas City plant that homes half of the F-150 production.
“It just goes to show you how hard it is, and the issue is visibility and transparency in the supply chain, how hard it is to predict and move things around,” said Dan Hearsch, managing director in AlixPartners, a global consulting firm.
“All the OEMs are working very hard to try and keep the pickup trucks, large SUVs, the high-value, high-revenue, high-profit models running. And when you see that they can’t do that, that is your indication of just how difficult this is.” – via Detroit News.
For now, Ford’s timetable for the halted production of a couple of weeks in May seems locked in, but it could very well exceed that.