In response to the sagging pickup truck market, Ford announced that it will be eliminating one shift at its F-150 plant in Kansas City indefinitely. The second shift at the production plant will be eliminated on August 11, with no plans to restate the shift unless demand sharply increases.
However, Ford plans to keep the plant running near full capacity by adding a third shift to the plant’s Ford Escape , Mercury Mariner and Mazda Tribute lines. Both the F-150 and the trio of crossovers are built at the Kansas City plant.
Ford recently shut down F-150 production at the plant for two weeks and is scheduled to operate on two shifts for the next five weeks, according to Automotive News. The plant will then shut down on July 21 for inventory adjustment and a planned summer shut down, with the plant restarting production the week of August 11.
Once the plant reopens in August, it will begin producing the all-new F-150 on just one shift.
Ford recently announced that it will be idling its Wayne, Michigan truck and SUV plant for nine weeks.
Although a new model is usually a good way to bolster demand, with gas hovering around $4 a gallon, it looks as though all large trucks and SUVs may be doomed – no matter how good they are.
