Ford cuts week off SUV plant shutdown to manage sales rise

Ford is cutting a week off the standard two-week summertime shutdown at three SUV plants to deal with enhanced demand.

The automaker states it will utilize the extra week of production to make another 22,000 SUVs at factories in Louisville, Kentucky; Oakville, Ontario, and Chicago.

The factories built the Ford Escape, Edge, Flex and Explorer sport utility automobiles and Lincoln equivalents.

Sales of the 4 Ford SUVs have increased 8.5 percent through May to more than 305,000.

Ford’s pickup plant in Louisville likewise will close for only a week as it switches to a brand-new Super Duty F-Series truck. The rest of the automaker’s North American plants will close for maintenance and device retooling for 2 weeks in July. Closing dates will differ.