Temporary Layoffs, Recalls at Ford's Louisville Facility

Cameron Aubernon
by Cameron Aubernon

The sun may shine bright upon my old Kentucky home, but that doesn’t mean things here can’t always be good. In the case of Ford, it’s not so good right now for the automaker’s efforts in Louisville.

First off, most of the 3,800 workers at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant have been laid-off temporarily until the end of this week due to a parts shortage for the Navigators, Expeditions and Super-Dutys screwed together there. The cause of the shortage appears to involve a fire at one of the plant’s part suppliers, and while UAW officials claim the part in question is a sensor, Ford officials are following company policy, not saying anything either way.

Of course, the fire doesn’t affect the Louisville Assembly Plant, but a major recall certainly does: Starting 23 July, Ford will recall nearly 8,300 Escapes — all made in Louisville — due to a very Toyota/Lexus-esque issue involving carpeting and braking. The affected CUVs were made from 8 March to 7 June of this year, if you happen to be one of the owners in question.

Speaking of that CUV, I leave you with the above photo of what used to be a large movieplex until it was finally demolished last year. The lot has played host to a few curious things since then, including housing some if not all of the 3,500 Escapes that could not escape the hailstorm in April. There were more a few weeks ago, but most of them have gone off somewhere. Maybe towards one of the auctions our Monsieur Lang visits?

Cameron Aubernon
Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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  • Cheezeweggie Cheezeweggie on Jul 18, 2012

    There certainly isnt a fugly chromed plastic grille shortage.

  • Caboose Caboose on Jul 19, 2012

    Why y'll drinkin' tha Hater-Ade an' stuff? Why you gotta be all up in that truck's grille, Man? Ahem. Insurance companies LOVE that grille. The less paint exposed to stone chips and fender benders, the less likely to get damaged. The more plastic, and the less metal, the cheaper it is (for the insurance company - not for the owner) to have fixed. Bumpers are comparatively cheap: they are bolted on and inexpensive to replace. Unlike, say quarter-panels that wrap to the front end. So it's either this, or else a Lexus-esque plastic bumper that goes up to the windshield wipers.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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