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Ford plans temporary shutdowns at five plants

Issued at 2017-09-25



Ford is planning temporary shutdowns at five plants this year as it looks to reduce inventories and adjust output plans according to market demand.

The company says that the output scheduling plans reflect changes in consumer demand for cars and trucks. Ford plans to idle five North American vehicle assembly plants for a total of ten weeks to reduce inventories.

"We are continuing to match production with customer demand, as we always do, and we are on track for our dealer inventories to remain at planned levels by year-end," a statement from the company said.

The vehicle models impacted include the Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ midsize sedans, the Ford Focus, the Lincoln Continental, Ford Mustang, Ford Fiesta and the Ford Transit van.

Reuters reported that the Cuautitlan assembly plant that builds the Fiesta would be idled for three weeks. The Hermosillo, Mexico plant that builds the Fusion and MKZ and the Flat Rock, Michigan, factory that assembles Continentals and Mustangs will be idled for two weeks each. The Michigan Assembly plant that builds the Focus will be idled for one week and the Kansas City assembly line that builds Transit vans will be idled for two weeks. The temporary shutdown at Kansas City affects only production of the Transit van, not the Ford F-150.

Media reports note that the plants impacted mainly produce passenger cars and that the market in North America has shifted heavily towards trucks and SUVs.

The company did not release specific dates for the shutdowns.

So far this year (to the end of August), the US light vehicle market is down by around 3% and Ford sales are down by around 4%.


Source: Just-Auto



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