Ford is delaying dealer allocations across the United States while it struggles with supply chain issues.
The car manufacturer has reportedly informed its dealers that allocations will be delayed and that wholesale deliveries will be lighter until the end of May. This comes in response to news from Ford that it has already lost 100,000 units of production after 37 suppliers failed to provide necessary parts on schedule.
In response to supply chain bottlenecks, Ford expects its U.S. sales to drop by 12 per cent to 1.66 million this year, down from the 1.9 million vehicles sold locally last year. As it stands, Ford’s sales are down 11 per cent year-to-date and dropped by 21 per cent in February.
Read Also: Ford Teases New Holman Moody-Inspired GT Heritage Edition Coming This Spring
“We’re trying to produce every vehicle we can right now,” Andrew Frick, general manager for sales, distribution, and trucks for Ford Blue, told Auto News. “We’re dealing with a myriad of supply chain issues like everyone is. We’re working through those issues right now, and we feel very confident about how we’re positioning our production and trying to get as much flow to dealers as we can.”
These issues mean some dealership lots will be virtually empty until the middle of the year.
During a meeting with dealers, Ford also revealed that it received 90,000 new-vehicle orders in January and 72,000 orders in February.
While many analysts thought supply chain issues would be rectified by 2022, the ongoing war in Ukraine has hampered the industry’s recovery. Most now believe that supply bottlenecks will remain through the first half of the year and that inventories could recover in the second half.
