Ford Motor stated on Tuesday it prepares to idle 5 North American vehicle assembly plants for an overall of 10 weeks to lower stocks of slow-selling models.
The plants affected consist three assembly plants in the United States and two in Mexico, the company said in a statement. The vehicle model consist of the Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ midsize sedans, the Ford Focus compact car, the Lincoln Continental and Ford Mustang, Ford Fiesta and the Ford Transit van.
Ford stated the Cuautitlan assembly plant that builds the Fiesta would be idled for three weeks. The Hermosillo, Mexico plant that develops the Fusion and MKZ and the Flat Rock, Michigan, factory that assembles Continentals and Mustangs will be idled for 2 weeks each. The Michigan Assembly plant that constructs the Focus will be idled for a week and the Kansas City assembly line that develops Transit vans is going to be down for two weeks. Ford did not provide dates for the short-term shutdowns.
The factories included over 15,000 people, according to Ford’s website. The company did not say how many of those employees would deal with temporary layoffs.
As of September 1, the automaker had 111 days’ worth of unsold Mustangs, 87 days’ supply of Fusions, and a 103 days’ supply of Transit vans, Automotive News noted. Dealers had adequate unsold Lincoln Continentals to last 162 days. Automakers would go for 65 to 70 days of inventory of most models.
Ford and competing General Motors have battled most of this year to control high inventories of passenger cars as customers have moved to buying pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. Production cuts slice into earnings, however also could assist the automakers avoid deeper cost cuts on vehicles they can offer.
