More Production Cuts At Ford As Automaker Hampered By Chip Shortage

The semiconductor chip shortage continues to pinch the auto industry as Ford (F) will temporarily shut down production at two plants.

The plants in Kentucky and Ohio will close next week amid the global chip disruption that has plagued the automotive industry for more than a year, which some automakers expect to improve in the latter half of 2022, CNBC reported.

Ford’s Kentucky plant produces its Ford Super Duty pickup trucks, Ford Expedition SUVs, and Lincoln Navigator SUVs, while the Ohio facility produces medium-duty trucks and chassis cabs, the news outlet said.

This is not the first time that Ford has had to suspend operations over the chip shortage as the Detroit-based company has temporarily cut production due to a lack of chips over the last year.

Chip demand soared in 2020 as consumers increased their purchases of tech products during the pandemic while automakers were forced to close as nonessential businesses. Chipmakers diverted supplies to tech devices at this time, and automakers were left in the lurch when business resumed to full capacity.

The news of Ford’s production shutdowns comes just two days after it announced that it was splitting off its electric vehicle business from its internal combustion engine-powered vehicle business into a separate unit dubbed Ford Model e. The legacy vehicles unit is now called Ford Blue.

The move is part of an effort to streamline operations and provide more “focus” on each vehicle segment as it looks to promote its EVs further.

As of Friday at 10:31 a.m ET, shares of Ford were trading at $16.85, down 75 cents or 4.23%.