F Ford Motor Company

By Aisha Al-Muslim and Christina Rogers 

Ford Motor Co. has suspended F-150 production at two assembly plants after a fire last week at one of its supplier's facilities created a parts shortage.

The Dearborn, Mich.-based auto maker said Wednesday it is working to offset U.S. production losses as the shortage of die-cast components has affected the manufacture of F-150 and Super Duty vehicles.

Ford halted F-150 production at its Kansas City, Mo., assembly plant, and will suspend production at a Dearborn plant, at the end of the afternoon shift Wednesday. Ford F-Series Super Duty production is down at the plant in Louisville, Ky. while the company expects Super Duty production to continue at its assembly plant in Avon Lake, Ohio.

On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ford was expected to run out of parts and halt production, citing people familiar with the matter. The Journal reported Ford was expected to lay off several thousand workers temporarily due to the blaze on May 2 at a plant operated by Meridian Lightweight Technologies, owned by China's Wanfeng Auto Holding Group. Ford accounts for less than one-third of the volume of output from the affected Meridian plant, Ford said Wednesday.

The F-150 is Ford's best-selling vehicle and generates the bulk of its global profit.

Ford Operating Chief Joe Hinrichs said the company has a healthy supply of Ford trucks sitting on dealer lots and doesn't expect the plant shutdowns to immediately affect sales.

But because auto companies book revenue when a vehicle is shipped from the factory, the disruption is expected to have an "adverse impact" on company earnings.

Ford is already forecasting a bleak outlook as profit is expected to fall for a third year in a row. The company on Wednesday backed its guidance of delivering annual adjusted earnings per share in the range of $1.45 to $1.70.

Ford Chief Executive Jim Hackett is under pressure to boost margins in the company's core U.S. market at a time when demand for new cars and trucks is starting to cool after seven years of uninterrupted growth.

Write to Aisha Al-Muslim at aisha.al-muslim@wsj.com and Christina Rogers at christina.rogers@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 09, 2018 19:10 ET (23:10 GMT)

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