Ford idles F-150 plant due to global chip shortage
The automaker’s Dearborn, Mich., plant will be idled Friday through Sunday, and resume operations on Monday, further denting supplies of the redesigned pickup, a key source of profits.
The automaker’s Dearborn, Mich., plant will be idled Friday through Sunday, and resume operations on Monday, further denting supplies of the redesigned pickup, a key source of profits.
Design West will help the automaker accelerate vehicle development with more space for collaboration and better use of technology.
The duo will cooperate in areas including autonomous driving and lightweight-material development and establish a fund to invest in areas such as intelligent manufacturing.
The captive finance company will have three customer and dealer services centers in the South. The changes will impact one-third of its 3,300 employees nationwide.
The automaker said it has converted 66 percent of Bronco reservations in the U.S. and Canada into real orders and expects that number to climb ahead of deliveries beginning in June.
The Amazon-backed electric vehicle maker donated $500,000 to help launch a COVID-19 testing lab near its facility in Normal, Illinois.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he was unaware of any support by the administration to ban internal-combustion vehicles after 2035 as California aims to do.
Ford will hold affected vehicles for a number of weeks, then ship them to dealers for sale once modules are available and it can finish comprehensive quality checks. The F-150 pickup is the nation’s top-selling vehicle and a key profit driver for the automaker.
The proposal would offer a minimum of $150 billion over 10 years for electric vehicle infrastructure and to replace and electrify the nation’s public bus fleet and commuter rail lines.