BERLIN — Ford has cut production again at its Cologne plant in Germany due to delivery problems with semiconductors, the automaker said.
A Ford spokesman told Automotive News Europe sister publication Automobilwoche that there had been coronavirus-related failures at a chipmaker in Malaysia, which had led to delivery problems at a door module supplier.
From the beginning of May to mid-July, Fiesta production in Cologne had already been halted due to semiconductor problems.
“Due to a production stoppage at a semiconductor manufacturer, Ford Fiesta production at our Cologne plant will be suspended from August 23 to 28,” a Ford spokesperson confirmed to ANE via email. “We are working as quickly as possible to resume production.”
On Monday the workforce returned to the production halls after their month-long plant vacation to resume assembly of the Fiesta.
According to the Automobilwoche report, management announced in a letter to employees that due to a lack of door modules, short-time work would be requested for the next two weeks, starting Aug. 17.
It may take even longer, the letter indicated, as the supply of material in the week starting Sept. 6 is “still uncertain.”
Ford has about 15,000 employees in Cologne, 5,000 of them in Fiesta production. The rest work in development, administration and other areas – Cologne serves the U.S. car company as its German and European headquarters.
Ford’s second location in Germany is Saarlouis in Saarland.
Production of the Focus model there is not affected by the current supply bottlenecks, the company spokesman said.
Semiconductor supply problems are affecting the entire automotive industry, and other manufacturers have also had to stop production due to a lack of components.