Ford Motor Company (F 0.47%) said that it is temporarily reducing production of its hot-selling new F-150 pickup truck because of a shortage of computer chips.
Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker said that the company will run just one shift at its Dearborn Truck Plant, and two shifts on the pickup assembly line at its Kansas City Assembly Plant, for one week starting on Feb. 8.
Both plants typically have three shifts of workers building F-150 pickups. (A second assembly line at Kansas City that builds the Ford Transit commercial van will continue to run on two shifts as usual.)
Ford's all-new 2021 F-150 pickups have been selling very quickly. But the company will be shipping fewer of them as it works through a semiconductor shortage. Image source: Ford Motor Company.
Ford joins a growing list of global automakers that have been forced to reduce production amid a shortage of key semiconductors, a result of increased global demand for higher-end personal computers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
General Motors (GM 4.37%) said on Wednesday that it will idle three of its factories in North America, and reduce production at a fourth, in South Korea, amid the shortage. Other automakers including Volkswagen (VWAGY 0.67%), Toyota Motor (TM 0.05%), and Stellantis (STLA 1.55%) have also been forced to temporarily reduce production.
Ford has also temporarily suspended production for a week at a third plant, in Oakville, Ontario, to address a quality issue and to ease constraints on semiconductor supplies. The Oakville plant builds the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus SUVs.
Ford will report its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 earnings after the U.S. markets close today.
