It is getting worse.
Two days ago, Honda announced that it would shut down production in the United States and Canada for a week. This follows a similar decision made by General Motors earlier this month. Ford is now producing pickups without the missing features, similar to the GM 2021 trucks.
Automotive News reports Ford plants in Michigan, Missouri and elsewhere are currently assembling the F-150 without the use of certain electronic modules. These modules are for basic functions such as the windshield wiper motors or infotainment.
Ford will build the affected vehicles and keep them in storage for a few more weeks until the situation with the chip shortage is resolved. Ford will then install all required components and perform quality control before shipping the trucks to dealers. The Edge crossover is also affected.
Automotive News also reports that Ford has canceled its Thursday evening shift at Louisville Assembly Plant, and will repeat the process with the Friday shifts. Production will resume on Monday with a small output, but it should be back to normal the next day. After a pause of March 1-16, Ford’s Cologne plant will suspend production on March 22.
A GM spokesperson confirmed earlier this week that Chevrolet was producing Silverado trucks with the 5.3-liter EcoTec3 engine without the Active Fuel Management (AFM), also known as cylinder activation. Early estimates suggest that the chip shortage could extend to the second half the year.