The ongoing chip shortage has repeatedly forced Ford Motor Company to suspend production at its assembly plants since the crisis first surfaced in early 2021. Any type of unplanned or sustained factory shutdown can be costly for the automaker, however, which is why officials are currently mulling over a new strategy that could see Ford dealers become front line vehicle assembly operators, if the plan gets approved, per a report from Automotive News.
As it stands, the company disclosed the idea to some Ford dealers, and the plans have yet to be formalized, but the basic framework would involve the shipment of incomplete vehicles to consenting dealerships. Those willing to take on the vehicles would also receive special service technician training materials with instructions on how to properly install the chips. Compensation would amount to less than an hour’s worth of labor for each unit, a potential indicator that the procedures are not too intensive.
According to the report, the plan has yet to be fully fleshed out, and there is no formal protocol as to whether the automaker or the Ford dealers themselves would be responsible for the incomplete vehicles once they arrive on their lots, although they would not have to floorplan (purchase) the unfinished inventory before they’re properly assembled.
Ford’s assembly plants are grappling with overflowing lots, which is the chief motivating factor as to why officials within the company are considering the idea. Aside from freeing up storage space for more vehicles, the automaker thinks that the proposal would make it easier for completed vehicles to be sold more rapidly at Ford dealers around the country. It could also enable the factories to keep producing at a steady rate. As Ford Authority detailed in April, the vehicle storage issue was so severe for incomplete 2021 Ford F-150 trucks coming out of the Ford Dearborn Truck plant that the company resorted to storing them at the Dearborn Development Center test track. Prior to that, the company had been storing the trucks near the Detroit Metro Airport.
We’ll have more on this situation as it develops, so subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford news.
Comments
This is a messy situation for all Auto Makers. Ship to dealerships back lots or close the plant? Designate the spar and professional chip in stellar to the dealerships that the vehicles will be shipped to. No Vehicle should be put on the front lot until it has been Chipped PERIOD
I’m surprised they haven’t got this figured out yet. Sure when they built a weeks worth of trucks shy it wouldn’t have been a big deal to offer up some Saturday overtime to have line workers out in those yards installing the missing pieces. However with the sheer bulk of vehicles they have and the inevitable back log to ship those vehicles in addition to the production coming off the line is going to create a big problem.
They really should have sussed this out some time ago and got those trucks on the way to their final destinations. Then as the modules were available send them directly to the dealers. The trucks would have got to their end users quicker that way. There are a lot of people who have been waiting for the vehicles they ordered.
There is precedent. When the first Edsel cars were shipped with parts and pieces tossed in the trunk and back seat. They left it to the dealers to finish the cars. That is, if all the parts were included in these “car kits’.
Edsel? Not an encouraging precedent… lol
is there any chance that a sun/moon roof be part of the redesign of the Ford Ranger???
This is a brilliant idea… it moves product out to free up space, fills FORD dealers empty lots and gets the most popular truck back in front of the customer. All you would be service techs have not a clue as to running a company in the time of covid. If FORD did things your way, they would be dead in the water.
Absolutely correct about having some kid pop in a module, then possibly program it using either IDS or FDRS no big deal to do. No way is a master tech going to be doing it. The owner wants to maximize his profit. Been doing this for far, far too long.
Agree an apprentice could do this but I don’t know where u work but at a union shop our apprentices do not make minimum wage as Bob said. I also have been doing this for 28 years with Ford and agree it’s a great idea to have them shipped to us and installed. Also I am sure Ford will pay .3 of an hour to install and program the missing modules.
I am one who has a truck on order. I don’t know the procedure for the chip to be installed but if something goes wrong with how it gets installed at the dealer who is responsible then to get it fixed and how much longer will that take to get truck finished? With all the technology we have in our country now why are we relying on chips from china?