Photo: Ford
The global semiconductor chip shortage is not over, but Ford has a bit of extra breathing room after grabbing enough supply to ship thousands of F-Series trucks.
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Detroit Free Press’ Phoebe Wall Howard reports that Ford this month has obtained enough microchips to ship thousands of nearly finished 2021 Ford F-150 and Super Duty trucks. With production all but complete thanks to the shortage, the trucks had been parked in lots around Ford’s production sites in Michigan, Kentucky, and Missouri.
Ford hasn’t said how many chips it obtained or from whom, or how many trucks the supply will allow them to ship. But with that number reported as being in the thousands, it’s a safe bet that the move will be a big boost to Ford’s bottom line.
Boost in chips could help F-Series sales get back on track
June showed the depth of the crisis and its impact on Ford. Not only did the automaker announce production cuts at eight plants, it also saw record inventory lows at dealerships nationwide. The lack of trucks on lots reflected in June sales, where the F-Series was down 29.9 percent from last year.
But by obtaining a new supply of chips, Ford should see some temporary relief to help the rest of the year go a bit more smoothly.
“We’re working to get chips into F-Series pickups and get them out to dealers. That’s our first priority,” Erich Merkle, Ford’s head of U.S. Sales Analysis, told Howard. “We’ll see our inventories improve. It’ll take time but stock will gradually start to improve the second half of the year.”
Though the new semiconductor chip supply should help Ford ship thousands of F-Series trucks, Merkle noted that it could take the auto industry well into 2022 to replenish supplies.
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Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.