As Ford Authority reported earlier this month, the ongoing microchip shortage is impacting the entire auto industry, including Ford. The shortage has caused Ford to temporarily halt production at several facilities, including the Ford Saarlouis Assembly plant and the Ford Louisville Assembly plant, both of which continue to be impacted by an inadequate supply of parts. And now, it appears that the latter plant will pause production for an additional two weeks.
Ford has not officially confirmed the news, but a robocall message relayed to workers on Friday, January 15th, 2021 said that the Ford Louisville Assembly plant is tentatively planning for an additional shutdown from January 25th, 2021 to February 1st, 2021. Recently, the plant suspended production for about one week, with assembly operations being cancelled from January 11th, 2021 through January 17th, 2021.
A UAW official blamed that shutdown on a lack of semiconductors that go into a brakes control module. The plant, which currently employs about 3,900 workers, produces the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair.
As previously mentioned, the Ford Louisville Assembly plant isn’t the only Ford factory affected by this latest supply issue. The Ford Saarlouis Assembly plant is currently idled until February 19th, 2021 for an unspecified reason. That plant, which employs about 6,200 workers, produces the Ford Focus for the European market.
It is unclear if the semiconductor shortage impacting production at Louisville is also responsible for the suspension of activity at the Ford Saarlouis Assembly Plant, but the Ford Escape, Ford Focus, and Lincoln Corsair do share the Ford C2 platform, so it would make sense if Ford used the module on all three vehicles.
This latest setback is just one of several production-related headaches for The Blue Oval, as the automaker has been forced to delay and push back the rollout of the 2021 Ford Bronco and several options on the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport, two vehicles that are key to its post-sedan future.
We’ll continue to report on these ongoing production issues, so subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford-related COVID-19 news and around-the-clock Ford news coverage.
Comments
Another delay as I am waiting to move from Cmax hybrid to Lincoln Corsair GT PHEV because I cancelled my order for Mustang Mach-E which had “similar” price but I am choosing Lincoln because it’s more luxurious(sanctuary).
Lincoln Corsair luxurious, Ford Mustang Mach-E might resale better