DETROIT (Reuters) – The impact of the global semiconductor scarcity on the auto industry spread on Saturday, when Stellantis warned that its highly profitable pickups were hit, while Ford Motor Co said it would cut more production in the United States.
Stellantis, the fourth largest automaker in the world, said it will build and maintain its Ram 1500 Classic trucks for final assembly at its assembly plants in Warren, Michigan, and Saltillo, Mexico. When the chips are available, vehicles will be completed and shipped to dealers.
The action will take “several weeks,” said a Stellantis spokeswoman, declining to reveal how many trucks would be affected.
The shortage of chips, which hit automakers worldwide, is due to a confluence of factors. Automakers closed factories in North America for two months during the COVID-19 pandemic last year and canceled chip orders. Meanwhile, demand for chips has increased in the consumer electronics industry, as people worked from home and played video games. Now, automakers need to compete for chips.
Automakers have repeatedly said they will prioritize chips for their most profitable vehicles, but the impact on Ram, as well as previous reports from Ford and General Motors Co of loss or impact on the production of their large trucks, shows that the shortage is affecting the companies where it hurts.
Stellantis Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said earlier this month that the problems may not be fully resolved until the second half of 2021, as some auto rivals have signaled, describing supplies as the “big unknown” for 2021 revenue. .
Ford said on Saturday that it will shut down its Ohio assembly plant next week, while its truck factory in Kentucky, in Louisville, will operate only on two out of three shifts. Both factories will return to full production in the week of March 29.
The U.S. automaker said the latest action is part of an earlier prediction that the shortage could hit 2021 profits by $ 1 billion to $ 2.5 billion.
On Thursday, Ford said it would assemble its highly profitable F-150 truck, as well as Edge SUVs in North America, without certain parts and then keep them “for several weeks” until they could be completed and shipped , affecting “thousands” of vehicles. He also said he would stop production at the factories in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cologne, Germany.
Reporting by Ben Klayman; Editing by Daniel Wallis