Ford Motor expects to have its U.S. vehicle assembly plants to get back into production in early July at the rates they did before the coronavirus pandemic led shut down of the U.S. auto industry for two months, a top executive stated on Wednesday.
“By July 6, we will expect to have all of our U.S. plants operating at pre-COVID patterns,” COO Jim Farley said on a webcast of a presentation at a Deutsche Bank auto conference.
Ford and other American automakers restarted production in the United States on May 18.
Farley stated in the first three weeks after the restart, Ford constructed about 96% of its planned volume.
“We’re really pleased with our start,” he said, adding that from the starting of the week of July 8 the automaker will start adding back a third shift of work at many of its plants.
Ford’s retail sales in May increased 44% from April, and its F-Series large pickup truck saw retail sales increased 5.3% from last year and gain 2.4 percentage points of market share, Farley stated.
The upcoming launches of the new version of the Ford’s highly profitable F-150 along with the new Bronco SUV and Mustang Mach-E electric SUV are in “really good shape,” he added.
However, Farley acknowledged there will be “some impact” on the timing of those launches as the automaker couldn’t get into the plants during the shutdown.
Ford will introduce electric versions of the F-150 and its Transit van in the upcoming 24 months, he stated.
On Wednesday, Ford finalized information about its alliance with German automaker Volkswagen AG. Farley said Ford also remains open to others willing to invest in its Argo AI self-driving unit in addition to Volkswagen.
As for Ford’s ongoing restructuring, Farley said work is still left to be done in Europe and South America. “For both regions, the reality is the pandemic means everything is on the table.”
