Ford Motor Co. idled its Louisville Assembly Plant this week over a software issue that’s affecting the recently freshened Escape crossover, according to the plant’s building chairman. It’s the second Ford plant down this week due to quality problems; the automaker has also halted production and shipments of the F-150 Lightning, built in Dearborn, Mich., over a potential battery issue.
Workers in Louisville were told late last week the plant would be idled Feb. 13-19th.
In a separate message, the plant’s building chairman, Brandon Reisinger, said it was a software issue with the vehicle’s cluster. “We’re on a day-by-day basis right now and I know that’s frustrating,” Reisinger told employees. “The issue we’ve got, the cluster, is a software issue. It’s not a hardware issue. If it were to get out, it would not be something that would endanger anybody … but it would have the vehicles coming back to the dealership.”
Tesla to Open U.S. Charging Network
Tesla will open part of its U.S. charging network to EVs made by rivals as part of a $7.5 billion federal program to electrify the nation’s highways to cut carbon emissions. By the end of next year, Tesla will open 3,500 new and existing superchargers along highway corridors, as well as 4,000 slower chargers at locations like hotels and restaurants, to non-Tesla customers.
Tesla would be eligible for a subsidy – including retrofitting its existing fleet – as long as its chargers allowed other vehicles with a federally backed charging standard called CCS to charge. Tesla has 17,711 Superchargers, accounting for about 60% of total U.S. fast chargers, which can add hundreds of miles of driving range in an hour or less. There are also nearly 10,000 “destination” chargers with Tesla plugs that can recharge a vehicle overnight.
února 2023
Microchip Shortage: More North America Cuts
North American factories cut 33,900 more vehicles from their production schedules last week, a sign that the microchip shortage continues to linger despite improvements in supply, according to the latest estimate by AutoForecast Solutions.
Those reductions come on top of 11,500 vehicle cuts by North American plants one week earlier. North America was the only region to see further chip-related production cuts.
So far this year, automakers worldwide have trimmed nearly 350,000 vehicles from their production plans due to the global semiconductor shortage, now in its third year. AutoForecast Solutions projects that number will climb to 2.81 million by the end of the year. Automakers including Honda recently signaled they believe the chip shortage is bottoming out but still expect it to drag on into late 2023 or early 2024.
Projections for loss by region are as follows:
- North America YTD – 89,200 (2022 Projected – 924,600)
- Europe YTD – 42,300 (2022 Projected – 812,400)
- Rest of Asia YTD – 184,300 (2022 Projected – 721,600)
- South America YTD – 16,400 (2022 Projected – 138,100)
- China YTD – 16,200 (2022 Projected – 190,600)
- Middle East/Africa YTD – 1,500 (2022 Projected – 21,900)
- Total YTD – 349,900 (2022 Projected – 2,809,200)
února 2023
Subaru Ordering
The MY23 Impreza will be closing on Monday, February 13th. Please have orders submitted ASAP.
Ordering for the newly redesigned Crosstrek are scheduled to open on Friday, February 24th and will continue to be on allocation only.
února 2023
Stellantis Early Cut Off
Due to unprecedented demand, Stellantis Fleet has announced that effective immediately, the 23MY RAM 1500 (DS, V8 Engine only) has been cutoff. Additionally, the 23MY Chrysler Pacifica/Voyager (RU) will be cut off on Wednesday, February 15th.
Stellantis will attempt to accommodate all orders submitted on time, however, cannot guarantee production nor offer price protection.
Microchip Shortage: More Cuts
An additional 11,500 vehicles have been chopped out of global vehicle production plans because of factory microchip shortages, according to the latest estimate by AutoForecast Solutions.
All of those cuts are at North American factories, bringing the year-to-date losses in the region to 55,300 vehicles. No additional scheduled reductions were made outside North America.
Ford’s assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario, has reduced output because of microchip shortages more than any other North American plant this year, with about 13,700 vehicles cut. The Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus crossovers are assembled there.
Projections for loss by region are as follows:
- North America YTD – 55,300 (2022 Projected – 923,400)
- Europe YTD – 42,300 (2022 Projected – 812,400)
- Rest of Asia YTD – 184,300 (2022 Projected – 721,600)
- South America YTD – 16,400 (2022 Projected – 138,100)
- China YTD – 16,200 (2022 Projected – 190,600)
- Middle East/Africa YTD – 1,500 (2022 Projected – 21,900)
- Total YTD – 316,100 (2022 Projected – 2,808,000)
Jan 2023
Ford Recalls 462K Crossovers
Ford Motor Co. is recalling more than 462,000 vehicles globally for rearview cameras that may not display images. The recall covers Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator large crossovers from the 2020-23 model years and Lincoln Corsair compact crossovers from the 2020-22 model years, all equipped with a 360-degree camera. It affects nearly 383,000 vehicles in the U.S., more than 39,000 in Canada and more than 5,000 in Mexico, Ford spokeswoman Maria Buczkowski said.
The video output on the recalled vehicles may fail, preventing the rearview camera image from displaying and increasing the risk of a crash while in reverse, according to a recall report submitted Monday to NHTSA. To fix the issue, dealers will update the image processing module software. Dealers will be notified starting Jan. 31st. Owners will be notified starting Feb. 20th.
Chrysler Pacifica Hybrids Recalled
Approximately 67,000 2017–2023 models of the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid will be recalled in the U.S. The recall will be to fix an issue that could lead to an unexpected shutdown of the minivan’s engine. The automaker said the problem has been reported in about 0.2% of Pacifica Hybrid minivans, and no accidents or injuries have been reported as a result of this issue.
No date has been given yet for the recall, which will include a power inverter software update and a potential update to the instrument panel cluster’s software.
Jan 2023
Subaru Pricing Updates
The Subaru Forester Base will be receiving a $100 MSRP price increase for the new MY.
The Forester Premium, Sport, Wilderness, Limited, and Touring trim levels will be getting a $300 MSRP increase.
Jan 2023
Nissan Rogue Allocation
EMKAY has been informed that the MY23 Nissan Rogue production is being extended to January 2024. Production will become available beginning in April 2023 and running through January 2024. Delivery will be first come first served. There will be no order minimums.
