Summer shutdown at Louisville Assembly plant shortened to one week
In response to increased customer demand, Ford will shorten its summer shutdown period at its Louisville Assembly Plant and other facilities across the country, ultimately increasing production by close to 40,000 units.
As part of Ford’s annual production schedule, its North American facilities will shut down from June 29 to July 10 for building maintenance and machine retooling, but select plants, including the Louisville Assembly Plant, will only be idle for one week.
“To meet surging customer demand for our top-selling trucks and utilities, we are continuing to run our North American facilities during the traditional two-week summer shutdown in order to add close to 40,000 units,” said Bruce Hettle, Ford vice president, North American Manufacturing. “Five of our assembly plants will build for an additional week in order to ensure we’re getting more of our vehicles into dealerships.”
The other assembly plants with a shortened idling period are Chicago, Dearborn Truck, Kansas City and Oakville.
Demand for Ford’s trucks and utilities is driving the decision. This is the third straight year Ford has kept plants running during summer shutdown in order to meet strong demand for its products. In April, Ford’s all-new 2015 F-150 was turning in just 20 days on dealer lots, while the Edge SUV spent just 10 days on dealer lots. Escape inventories remain tight in a growing small utility vehicle segment. Explorer inventories are also tight, with the new 2016 Explorer just beginning to hit dealer lots as production ramps up.
Over the past several years, the company has invested more than $6.2 billion and added more than 15,000 jobs in its U.S. facilities to help meet customer demand for its newest products.
The increased production was included in the financial guidance Ford confirmed in its first-quarter earnings report on April 28, 2015.
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