USA - Ford cuts shutdown time to build extra cars as sales are growing faster than expected.

• In response to increased customer demand, Ford will add capacity this summer to produce its most popular trucks and utilities

• Ford will shorten its summer shutdown from the traditional two-week summer shutdown to one week for a majority of North American assembly plants, increasing production by close to 40,000 units

• In April, Ford F-150 was turning at just 20 days on dealer lots, Edge sales were up 78 percent, and Escape and Explorer remained in tight supply. 2016 Explorers are now hitting dealer lots

In response to customer demand for Ford’s newest products, the company this year will produce close to 40,000 extra units by idling select plants for only one week during what has been the traditional two-week summer shutdown.

“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 America Manufacturing. 

“Six of our assembly plants will build for an additional week in order to ensure we’re getting more of our vehicles into dealerships.”

As part of Ford’s annual production schedule, its North American manufacturing facilities will shut down from June 29 to July 10, 2015 for building maintenance and machine retooling. 

Based on strong customer demand for the company’s newest products – F-150, Edge, Escape and Explorer – six Ford assembly plants, along with supporting powertrain and stamping plants, will shut down only the week of June 29. 

Assembly plants include Chicago, Dearborn Truck, Kansas City, Kentucky Truck, Louisville and Oakville.

The powertrain and stamping plants taking a reduced summer shutdown this year include:

• Livonia Transmission
• Rawsonville Transmission
• Sharonville Transmission
• Sterling Axle
• Buffalo Stamping
• Chicago Stamping
• Dearborn Consolidated
• Kansas City Stamping
• Kentucky Stamping
• Woodhaven Stamping

Demand for Ford’s trucks and utilities continues to be strong. In April, Ford’s all-new 2015 F-150 was turning in just 20 days on dealer lots, while Edge 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.

This is the third straight year Ford has kept plants running during summer shutdown in order to meet strong demand for its products. 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.