Ford Motor Company (F 3.03%) said that it's still suffering from shortages of necessary computer chips, and for now, it will build F-150 pickups and Edge SUVs without essential electronic modules and store the vehicles until they can be completed.
Ford, like other global automakers including General Motors (GM 1.44%), Volkswagen (VWAGY 3.29%), and Honda Motor (HMC 1.19%), has been scrambling to respond to a global shortage of semiconductors. Supplies of certain essential chips are exceptionally tight because of an unexpected surge in demand for higher-end personal computers amid the pandemic.
Ford's iconic F-150 is all-new for 2021. Demand for the new truck has been high, but the chip shortage has complicated Ford's launch. Image source: Ford Motor Company.
Ford said it is also halting production for a few days at an assembly plant in Kentucky that builds the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair SUVs, and at a German factory that builds the small Fiesta for Europe.
Separately, Nissan Motor (NSANY 4.66%) said late on Thursday that it is temporarily halting production of certain sedan and SUV models at factories in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Aguascalientes, Mexico, due to the chip shortage. Nissan said that production of its Titan and Frontier pickups, both built at the Mississippi plant, will continue as planned.
Last month, Ford temporarily reduced production of F-150 pickups at both U.S. factories that build the truck, in Dearborn, Michigan, and Kansas City, Missouri, in response to the shortage.
The company has warned that if the chip shortage continues through the first half of the year, its adjusted operating profit for the full year could decline by between $1 billion and $2.5 billion.
Ford said in February that it expects to generate adjusted operating profit between $8 billion and $9 billion this year, not counting the impact of the chip shortage.
