Ford India Extends Pongal Shut Down Due to Chip Shortage

Ford was facing a difficult situation due to the shortened supply of a critical part. Due to this pause in the supply, Ford India’s Maraimalai Nagar factory near Chennai is going to be shut down for a week after Pongal.

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According to industry sources, this shortage of the semiconductor and its impact will hit the production of Ford vehicles for the domestic, as well as, the export market by 50 per cent.

Ford was facing a difficult situation due to the shortened supply of a critical part. Due to this pause in the supply, Ford India’s Maraimalai Nagar factory near Chennai is going to be shut down for a week after Pongal. The plant was initially closed on January 14 for a three-day shutdown for Pongal festival. It has now extended the shutdown up to January 24.

Commenting on this, a Ford India spokesperson said that there was a plan to open the Chennai plant on January 18, Monday after the Pongal break, which now has been extended for a week. The shortage of the semiconductor (chip) has become a serious issue for the company and the team is trying to start the supply again. He further said that the semiconductor shortage will impact the company's operations in India. Due to this, the production will remain impacted across Chennai and Sanand plants through the entire quarter.

According to industry sources, this shortage of the semiconductor and its impact will hit the production of Ford vehicles for the domestic, as well as, the export market by 50 per cent. The company produced somewhere around 7,000 vehicles in December. The total production of the company during April-December was just under 65,000 units.

Not just in this factory, there is a global shortage of semiconductor chips that has started disrupting automobile factories all around the globe. These chips are an essential part of infotainment systems, as well as, other electrical components in a vehicle. Because of this shortage, Ford has already shut down one of its US plants. Apart from this, Toyota’s Chinese plant, Honda’s UK plant, as well as, Audi and Volkswagen’s factories in Germany are all witnessing shutdowns in their production units due to this supply disruption.

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