The Latest Chip Shortage Shutdown Will Cost Ford an Estimated $1.2 Billion in Revenue

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) said on Wednesday that it will suspend production at several of its factories, including the Detroit-area plant that builds the profitable Ranger pickup and (soon) the Bronco SUV, as it works through a worsening global shortage of automotive-grade semiconductors. In a memo to employees, Ford said that its Michigan Assembly Plant, which builds the Ranger and is preparing to begin production of the much-anticipated Bronco, will be shut down for the first time during the weeks of May 17 and May 24. Other Ford plants, including a Kansas City factory that builds F-150 pickups and Transit commercial vans, will also be shut down during that same period, Ford said.