Ford alters production at Windsor plant due to tire shortages

While Ford did not (and usually does not) list the exact components that cause production downtime, Automotive News reports that Marc Renaud, vice president of Canadian Auto Workers Local 200, stated that the union was informed of the Windsor downtime for March 6th and the week of June 6th. The cause was the inability to get tires for the vehicles that use those engines built at the Windsor production facility at various US plants. Evidently, Ford must have (or projects to have) more than enough of the V8 engines built in Windsor so they are opting to halt production for a total of 6 days over the next 5 weeks.

Last week, Ford was forced to pause production at their Dearborn truck plant and their Avon Lake van plant due to shortages from suppliers. Renaud of the Canadian union did not state which plants are the cause of the downtime and Ford would not confirm the idea of tires being at fault, but the Motor Company did clarify that the most recent shortages were not due to the Japanese earthquake.

During the downtime in Windsor, the 480 union employees who are out of work will receive partial payment. Aside from May 6th and the week of June 6th, the Windsor engine plant does not have any more planned days off during the week throughout 2011. Those previously closed truck and van plants are back to work this week

Source: Automotive News

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