2023 Ford Explorer Production Really Picked Up In August

Over the first part of 2023, we’ve seen the production of many Blue Oval models increase – sometimes by a significant margin – as supply chain shortages ease and the automotive world gets back on track. That includes the 2023 Ford Explorer, which saw its output at the Chicago Assembly plant increase by 19 percent in July, going from 10,416 units to 12,387 month-over-month, though this was still far less than the 25,625 crossovers that FoMoCo built in January. Regardless, 2023 Ford Explorer production really picked up in August, according to the automaker’s latest sales report.

In August, The Blue Oval produced a total of 21,251 2023 Ford Explorer crossovers at the Chicago plant, which is a significant 8,864 units or 72 percent more than July. It also brings the year-to-date total up to 143,804 units, and is the third-most productive month for Explorer production through the first eight months of 2023, trailing only January and March.

In spite of this increase, it’s still unclear what sort of impact – if any – an ongoing issue with the Explorer’s 360-degree camera is having on production, however. Back in May, The Blue Oval issued a recall for more than 300,000 2020-2023 Ford Explorer models over a problem in which those cameras’ video output could fail, preventing the rear view camera image from displaying. FoMoCo has had trouble coming up with a fix for this problem, and later issued a stop-build as a result.

In the meantime, the Explorer was slated to receive a refresh for the 2024 model year, but that mid-cycle action has now been pushed back to the 2025 model year, as Ford Authority reported earlier this month. When it debuts, the refreshed Explorer will feature revised exterior and interior styling, along with some tech updates to boot.

We’ll have more production numbers to share soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Explorer news and continuous Ford news coverage.