Crossover Crunch: Citing Demand, Ford Shortens Plant Shutdown to One Week

Ford Motor Company is reducing the length of its usual summer suspensions by a full seven days in Kentucky. According to the automaker, production at the Louisville Assembly Plant will resume only “one week” after the normal July 4th shutdown. Like the horrendous Barenaked Ladies song of the same name, the news should prove very popular among a highly specific subset of America — assuming they get paid hourly and weren’t planning an extended vacation.

Normally, Ford takes around 14 days to overhaul factories for the following year’s production, but demand for the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC has just been too high.

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Ford Spends $1.3B on Super Duty Plant in Kentucky So You Don't Have To Wait Again

Ford announced Tuesday that it would spend $1.3 billion to retool, update and build a new body shop for its Louisville, Kentucky plant, which produces its Super Duty truck and large SUVs.

The announced spending, which will create 2,000 jobs at the plant, is part of Ford’s new contract with the United Auto Workers — and part of the automaker’s last deal with the UAW, according to Automotive News.

The investment will create an all-new body shop for the aluminum-bodied truck scheduled to go on sale late next year. With an all-new shop, production of the outgoing truck can continue while the new shop gets online, which could help the automaker avoid another shortage when the redesigned truck hits dealers.

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Temporary Layoffs, Recalls at Ford's Louisville Facility

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.

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  • Analoggrotto Tell us you aren't vying for more Hyundai corporate favoritism without telling us. That Ioniq N test drive must have really gotten your hearts.
  • Master Baiter EV mandates running into the realities of charging infrastructure, limited range, cost and consumer preferences. Who could possibly have predicted that?
  • Jkross22 Our experience is that the idea of leasing/owning an EV is better than the experience of getting a closer look at them and coming away underwhelmed.
  • Ajla I never thought I'd advocate for an alphanumeric but "Junior" is a terrible name.
  • Arthur Dailey So pay moving costs, pay penalties or continue to pay for space in the RenCen, and purchase all new furniture and equipment. Rather than just consolidating in place and subleasing. Another brilliant business decision.