On March 3, Ford announced it is increasing production at North America manufacturing plants to meet strong customer demand for vehicles including Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, Bronco Sport and Maverick.
The company is also preparing to launch all-new versions of the Super Duty, Ranger and Mustang together with a refreshed version of Escape in 2023.
• Mustang Mach-E: Ford began increasing production this week at the Cuautitlan plant where recent changes will allow Ford to nearly double its hourly production and bring its annual manufacturing run rate to a targeted 210,000 units by the end of 2023.
• Bronco Sport and Maverick: Ford is targeting production for the two vehicles built in Hermosillo, Mexico to increase by more than 80,000 units in 2023.
• F-150 Lightning: The Rouge Electric Vehicle Center is on track to triple production from last year, targeting an annual production run rate of 150,000 units by the end of 2023, once production resumes on March 13. Ford is investing USD 2 billion across three Michigan component plants and adding 3,200 jobs to support EV production.
• Transit and E-Transit: The Kansas City Assembly Plant will add an additional assembly crew as Ford targets an annual production increase of 38,000 units. Ford is investing USD 95 million and adding 1,100 jobs as part of the production increase.
• F-150 and F-150 PowerBoost: Ford is looking at ways to increase production of F-150 gas and hybrid trucks at the Dearborn Truck Plant to meet continued strong demand.
Escape (Ford)
On February 23, Ford Motor Co. informed employees that it has again extended the closure of its Louisville Assembly Plant until at least March 6 as it works to correct a software issue on the refreshed Escape and Lincoln Corsair crossovers.
The plant's building chairman, Brandon Reisinger, noted that the company appears to have solved the problem.
"We do have a new re-flash to address the programming issue we have with the clusters. This re-flash does appear to be good. In all of the testing, they've had no issues so far,” said Reisinger.
The extension will mark the fourth-consecutive week the plant has been down as it works in the pre-production phase of the freshened Escape and Corsair launch.
(multiple sources on February 23, 2023)
Keyword: plant operating status
On February 17, multiple sources reported that Ford Motor Co. has extended the temporary closure of its Louisville Assembly Plant for another week as the company continues to deal with a software issue on its 2023 Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair crossovers.
The plant will be down through Feb. 24, according to a note to employees confirmed by Ford. The company previously planned to re-open the plant on Feb. 20.
The plant is currently in the pre-production phase of the updated Escape and Corsair launch.
(multiple sources on February 17, 2023)
Keyword: plant operating status