Ford Will Cut Production at 5 North American Factories

Ford Motor Co. says it will temporarily suspend output at five of its assembly plants in the U.S. and Mexico between now and the end of December to help balance dealer inventories of unsold cars and vans.

Ford’s U.S. retailers have an average 81-day supply of unsold vehicles, up from 77 days at the beginning of August, according to Automotive News. A 60-day supply is considered normal.

Affected facilities are:

• Flat Rock Assembly, Mich., for two weeks (Ford Mustang sport coupe and Lincoln Continental large luxury sedan)
• Kansas City Assembly, Mo., for two weeks (Transit delivery van)
• Michigan Assembly, Mich., for one week (Focus small sedan and C-Max small MPV)
• Cuautitlan Assembly, Mexico, for three weeks (Fiesta minicars)
• Hermosillo Assembly, Mexico, for two weeks (Ford Fusion compact sedan and Lincoln MKZ sport sedan)

Ford’s passenger vehicle sales through the first eight months of 2017 were down 4%, as a 2% gain in demand for light trucks was offset by a 19% drop in car sales, according to Autodata Corp. AN says Transit deliveries are outperforming competing models but have fallen 21% this year.