Ford's Flat Rock Assembly Plant down this week due to chip shortage

Ford Motor Co.'s Flat Rock Assembly Plant is taking downtime this week due to supply-chain issues related to the global semiconductor shortage, the Dearborn automaker said Tuesday.

The plant, which builds the Ford Mustang, is scheduled to resume production next week, according to a company spokesperson.

The production cut is just the latest signal that the shortage of the crucial component that powers many of the automated and electronic features in vehicles will continue to be a challenge more than a year after it started.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday that it is unlikely to reach its target of manufacturing 9 million vehicles this fiscal year through March because of the shortage, Bloomberg reported. The Japanese automaker plans to scale back production by about 150,000 units to 700,000 units in February, according to the outlet.

The pandemic-induced semiconductor shortage started at the end of 2020 and in 2021 cost the global automotive industry hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenue and millions of units of lost production. Though experts and some industry executives have signaled they see production impacts easing throughout the year, it's nevertheless expected to be an issue in the near term. The shortage caused widespread production disruptions last year, leaving auto dealers' lots bare and pushing prices of new and used vehicles to record highs.

Meanwhile, Stellantis NV previously said that its Windsor and Brampton assembly plants in Ontario and its Toluca and Saltillo van assembly plants in Mexico will be down this week as part of broader production cuts the automaker attributed to lack of demand.

jgrzelewski@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @JGrzelewski