Ford Motor to idle plants

Ford Motor Co will idle its Kentucky pick-up truck plant next week and Nissan Motor Co Ltd will adjust its production schedule due to parts shortages caused by the earthquake in Japan three weeks ago.

The Louisville, Kentucky, plant is the first US plant that Ford is shutting because of supply chain issues related to plant closings in Japan. Ford declined to say which parts or suppliers were involved when it announced the move on Friday.

While the parts shortage spurred the move, Ford also is idling the plant to take advantage of a shift in consumer taste from trucks to small cars, said Ford sales analyst George Pipas.
"It not only addresses a short supply of a few components but it recognizes the fact that at the retail level, consumer demand for full-size trucks has declined as we have (progressed) through this year," Pipas said during Ford's March sales call.

Ford also said it would idle two other plants next week in Michigan and Mexico, but the automaker said it was not for issues related to the Japan crisis.

Ford builds its "Super Duty" heavy trucks at the plant in Louisville, as well as the Ford Expedition and the Lincoln Navigator. The F-150 pickup truck, the best-selling model in the US market for more than 30 years, is not affected by the move, Ford said.

Additionally, Nissan said it would adjust the output schedule at auto plants in the United States and Mexico by shifting non-production days planned for later in the second and third quarters to April.

All three of Nissan's plants in the US will be idled on April 8, 11 as well as April 18 through April 21. Nissan will also shut down its plant in Cuernavaca, Mexico next week and another plant in Aguascalientes the week after.

Nissan said the changes were made to avoid major supply disruptions and because some parts shipments are still in transit from Japan.

"We will lose some production," Nissan's US sales chief Al Castignetti said in an interview. But he added it was too soon to determine the full effect of that loss.

"It's certainly not the timing you want, because you want wide availability going into a larger SAAR," he added, referring to the annualized US sales rate the industry watches to gauge the health of auto sales.

"Here's the reality of it: Every manufacturer is going to be affected by it (Japan) at some level because of parts supply or manufacturing."

Ford said it would idle its plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, where it builds its iconic Mustang, due to weaker consumer demand.

Ford will shut down its Hermosillo plant in Mexico for a week to adjust the assembly line to build the 2012 Fusion model.

The automaker said on Saturday it would idle its assembly plant in Genk, Belgium, to conserve parts.