Steel Markets

Ford, Stellantis to Take Downtime on Chip Shortage (Again)

Written by Michael Cowden

March 4, 2022

The global chip shortage continues to dog North American auto assembly plants more than a year after the issue first resulted in widespread production outages.

Among the automakers impacted this week are Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis, the European parent company of Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler.

AutoAssembly2Chrysler’s Belvidere, Ill., assembly plant – which makes the Jeep Cherokee SUV – will be down the week of March 7 because of the chip shortage, a company spokeswoman said.

“Stellantis continues to work closely with our suppliers to mitigate the manufacturing impacts caused by the various supply-chain issues facing our industry,” she said.

Down this week at Ford are the automaker’s Kentucky Truck facility in Louisville, Ky., and its Ohio Assembly plant in Avon Lake, Ohio.

Kentucky Truck makes the F-250 to -550 “Super Duty” trucks as well as the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs. Ohio Assembly’s products include the F-650 and F-750 “Medium Duty” trucks as well as the chassis cab for the F-350, F-450 and F-550 “super duty” trucks.

“We have teams working on how to maximize production, with a continued commitment to building every high-demand vehicle for our customers with the quality they expect,” a Ford spokeswoman said.

Case in point: Ford continues to make the F-150 at the two U.S. assembly plants that produce it: one in Dearborn and another in Claycomo, Mo.

Ford’s F-series pickup trucks are the best-selling vehicles in the U.S.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

Read more from Michael Cowden

Latest in Steel Markets