DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday announced more downtime at a number of key assembly plants, including two more weeks for the F-150 pickup -- the top-selling vehicle in the U.S. -- due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage.
In a memo to employees obtained by Automotive News and confirmed with the company, Ford said the Chicago and Flat Rock, Mich., plants as well as both the F-150 and Transit van sides of its Kansas City, Mo., plant will be down the weeks of April 19 and 26. Production at its plant in Avon Lake, Ohio, will be limited to Super Duty chassis cabs and medium-duty trucks those weeks.
The downtime is in addition to what the company announced last week.
Additionally, Ford said its Kentucky Truck plant in Louisville will be down the weeks of April 26 and May 3 and will remove overtime from May 8 to 31.
Industry research firm AutoForecast Solutions estimated lost production of almost 408,000 vehicles for Ford due to the shor…