The Louisville factory employs 3,800 hour workers, who will receive about 75% of their normal wages during the week’s shutdown. It mounts the Ford Escape and the Lincoln version of that SUV, the Corsair.
“The global shortage of semiconductors creates challenges and production disruptions – also for the global automotive industry Ford (F.), which could have a significant knock-on effect on jobs and the economy, given the importance of car production, ”said Ford (F.) in a statement.
Automakers scaled back orders for computer chips early last year when the pandemic slowed car sales and production due to temporary factory closures.
When car sales returned faster than expected, the industry faced a shortage of chips. That was compounded by the increased demand for laptops during the stay-at-home era – and the electronics and computer industries swallowed up the excess supply of chips, said Kristin Dziczek, vice president of research at the Center for Automotive Research, a Michigan thought tank.
“It’s temporary, but it won’t be short-lived,” she said. The problems are likely to persist for the first three months of the year. Deliveries should hopefully be back to normal in the second quarter.
The average car has between 50 and 150 chips, she said. And all the chips are needed to proceed with the assembly of the cars.
The problem does not only concern American car factories – factories in Europe and Asia are also suffering from a shortage of chips.