Ford stops production in Brazil and closes three of its factories

Ford is closing three production sites along with total production in Brazil. The company announced the plans today and provided further details, while reassuring those in the South American market that despite the closings, it remains committed to the region.

Two of the Blue Oval production lines in Brazil will be closed straight away. The factories in Camaçari and Taubaté will stop production, while the Troller factory in Horizonte, in the Brazilian state of Ceará, will stop production in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Ford pledges to continue serving the South American market with cars manufactured in Argentina and Uruguay, where they are assembled of some models continues. The Ford Ranger is one such model; it is produced in Argentina.

Quoting the press releases the Ford‘s CEO, Jim Farley, who said:

“With more than a century in South America and Brazil, we know these are very difficult but necessary actions to create a healthy and sustainable business. We are moving towards a flexible business model with a lighter structure in Brazil and to provide those customers with some of the best and most exciting vehicles from our global portfolio. We are also rushing to provide our customers with the benefits of connectivity, electrification and autonomous technologies to efficiently meet the need for eco-friendly and future-proof cars.

Ford emphasizes that further the only thing that is shut down in Brazil is production. B.ut for the South American country it is understandably a solemn announcement, as the closure will affect many of the workers in the country. Ford claims it is working with stakeholders to improve the news.

And this isn’t the first time a Brazilian Ford factory has closed. Recall that the car manufacturer Closed the factory in Sao Bernardo do Campo last year. The striking difference here is that car production across the country is stopping.

The report also cites Lyle Watters, the president of Ford South America and the International Markets group:

In addition to reducing costs in all aspects of business, we oversaw the launch of the Ranger Storm, Territory and Kuga, and introduced innovative services to our customers. While these efforts had positive results during the closing quarters of the fiscal year, the continued adverse economic conditions and the added burden of the pandemic made it clear that it was necessary to do this to create a sustainable and sustainable future.

So while Farley was not explicit, Watters noted the effect the pandemic had had on the business. Nevertheless, Ford’s center of pproduct ddevelopment in Bahía, and the test site in Tatuí, São Paulo, stays open. Ford’s regional headquarters there will also remain open.

The two factories whose production is being phased out today will only remain in operation to produce parts needed to bolster spare parts supplies in the country. But vehicle production at the factories is shut down, and when the country’s dealers don’t EcoSport, Ka, and Troller T4 models, the sale of which will be completed.

Those three models represent an uncertain future, now and below this one I will most mourn for the Ka, although the Troller T4 is a close second. We have contacted Ford and will provide any updates from the vehicle manufacturer.

UPDATING [Monday, January 11, 2021, 06:05 PM CT]

A Ford Motor Company spokesperson answered our question about the factory closures and stated:

We will meet the needs of South American customers, including Brazil, with a range of modern and connected SUVs, pickups and commercial vehicles from Argentina, Uruguay and other regions. In addition to the recently announced Transit, New-Gen Ranger, Mach-1 Mustang, Bronco, we will be introducing several new vehicles, including some all-new arrivals and a plug-in. This includes expanding connected services and introducing new automated and electrified technologies to the markets.

As we said today, production will stop immediately in Camaçari and Taubaté, with production of some parts continuing for a few more months to support stocks for aftermarket sales. The Troller plant in Horizonte will continue to run until the fourth quarter of 2021. As a result, the company will discontinue sales of EcoSport, Ka and T4 once stocks are sold. Manufacturing operations in Argentina and Uruguay and sales companies in other SA markets are not affected.

In Argentina, manufacturing operations will not be affected and the investment plan for production of the next generation Ranger continues as planned. The sale of Ka will continue until stocks are exhausted and the sale of EcoSport will continue to come from an alternate region for Consortio customers.