Jul 2021
Ford’s Plan to Get Vehicles to Dealers
Ford Motor Co. is considering the unusual step of shipping partially built vehicles to dealerships and relying on service technicians to add the missing chips when they arrive. The automaker is trying to ease the glut of F-Series and other vehicles that have languished on storage lots surrounding its assembly plants for months by instead stashing them with retailers who have ample space as their inventory of new vehicles has dried up.
The new strategy comes as General Motors and Stellantis add downtime at their assembly plants because of the shortage, which AutoForecast Solutions last week estimated could cost the industry 6.3 million vehicles globally, including nearly 2 million in North America.