Stop us for those who’ve heard this one earlier than, however a North American automaker is about to briefly scale back its manufacturing output because of the ongoing world chip scarcity. A Ford spokesperson instructed Reuters on Friday the automaker would lower or droop manufacturing at eight of its factories throughout the US, Mexico and Canada. The shutdown will begin on February seventh. Among different amenities, the choice will have an effect on the Kansas City plant the place Ford produces the F-150, one in every of its hottest and worthwhile automobiles.
This isn’t the primary time Ford has felt the chip crunch, nor has it been the one automaker affected by the state of affairs. Last September, General Motors briefly suspended manufacturing in any respect however 4 of its North American factories amid element shortages. At the beginning of the yr, the US Commerce Department warned semiconductor-related provide constraints would final till at the very least the second of half of 2022. “We aren’t even close to being out of the woods,” Department Secretary Gina Raimondo stated on the time.
Companies like Ford have taken motion to handle the issue. In November, the corporate introduced a strategic partnership with GlobalFoundries to spice up US semiconductor manufacturing, however the automaker possible gained’t profit from that association for some time. In the meantime, Ford instructed Reuters it expects its manufacturing quantity to “improve significantly” within the second half of the yr.