Ford Looking At April 6 To Restart Production; Good News for 2021 Ford F-150 And Other New Vehicles

It’s been a whirlwind for so many of us as our country reels and deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. Ford has been immensely impacted by the Corona virus having to shut down its assembly plants right at the worst possible time. My colleague Marc Stern wrote that Ford, in coordination with the UAW made the difficult decision to shut down its assembly plants for the sake of the workers’ health.

Ford just announced through a press release, that it is looking at April 6 as the date to perhaps restart its production at select plants in North America on select shifts with extra safety measures in place.

According to Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s president of North America:
Ford is aiming to restart production at select plants in North America as early as April 6, bringing key plants back online while the company introduces additional safety measures to protect returning workers.

Ford is planning to resume production at Hermosillo Assembly Plant on April 6 on one shift. On April 14, Ford is planning to start building vehicles at Dearborn Truck Plant, Kentucky Truck Plant, Kansas City Assembly Plant’s Transit line and Ohio Assembly Plant.

To support these assembly plants, Ford also is aiming to resume production April 14 at:

• Dearborn Stamping Plant
• Dearborn Diversified Manufacturing Plant
• Integrated stamping plants within Kansas City and Kentucky Truck plants
• Sharonville Transmission Plant
• Portions of Van Dyke Transmission, Lima Engine and Rawsonville Components plants
We will continue to assess public health conditions as well as supplier readiness and will adjust plans if necessary.

If this plan holds, this will be great news for the workers who were furloughed from the shut down and even better news for consumers. As reported, Ford has made extraordinary offers on the purchase of new vehicles including deferred payments and no-interest loans. With so many new and exciting products on the horizon, Ford has a lot of work to do.

2021 Ford F-150 Exterior
It’s been well documented here on Torque News about the upcoming 14th-generation F-150. Just yesterday, I wrote about new colors for 2021 F-150. That news alone created a lot of buzz, so the excitement surrounding the new Ford F-150 is at an all-time high.

The spy shots have been all over the internet, including here at Torque News. From what I’ve seen, the biggest difference is in the grille where the those parallel slats of the current generation F-150 are gone leaving a more robust-looking grille. Some readers said they see a similarity to the GMC Sierra. I can see that too.

The head lights are significantly changed too with big rectangular LEDs and a very a stylish wraparound daytime running lights. Some readers noted this may mean changing bulbs is easier as doing so on the current generation was quite an ordeal. And of course, there’s the current recall on the brightness of the 13th-generation F-150 head lamps that I wrote about.

Spy shots also show that not much seems to be changed on the tail gate, and that’s a little disappointing. While I do think the GMC Sierra has a gimmicky tail gate, nevertheless it’s a talking point that adds appeal to it. Likewise, the Ram 1500 has both the versatile Ram box as part of the bed and a dual-door tailgate that swings out or drops down.

Recently, I did a comparison of the Ram 1500 (with EcoDiesel) to the Ford F-150 (with the 3.0-liter Power Stroke). For me, the Ram was better in many ways, including the tail gate. Maybe, when it’s officially revealed later this year, we will see more evolutionary things regarding the tail gate of the 2021 Ford F-150.

What Plants Reopening Mean For 2021 Mustang Mach-E
Yesterday I revealed some breaking news regarding the Mustang Mach-E. The reservations which range from as low as 10,000 to as much as 30,000 will get converted to actual orders starting May 11.

With all things halted, that date left some Ford dealers in panic mode as they weren’t properly trained about the Mach-E. If, in fact, Ford does relaunch production facilities in April, then production of the all-electric crossover could begin as orders flow in.

Personally, I hope there’s a last second change of heart (no chance) and Ford changes the named from Mustang to something else? What’s wrong with just calling it the Mach-E? I haven’t changed my opinion at all, even after riding it in (and liking it) that it should not be called a Mustang, and from what I’ve seen the super majority of my readers agree.

When Will See The 2021 Ford Bronco?
This is the million-dollar question. And I’ve certainly written plenty about it. The Bronco and the Bronco Sport were both set to be revealed in April at the New York Auto Show, which has been cancelled.

So the question remains, when is the big reveal? There’s more important things to fret over with all the pandemic issues, but us car people are really itching to see the Bronco, which will be available as both a two-door and four-door variant, and the Bronco Sport, which will be a little more daily driver, compact crossover in the vein of the Chevy Blazer.

If indeed things begin to return to normalcy in April for Ford (and hopefully the world), then maybe soon thereafter we will finally get the big Bronco reveal.

Ford will no doubt reopen their plants when it’s deemed safe and acceptable. Despite the financial ramifications (which have been heavy and significant) Ford did the right thing by shuttering those assembly plants temporarily. Even the UAW signed off on it.

I reported on how Ford showed to be a great corporate by working with medical supply companies and turning F-150 parts into respirators and face shields to help hospitals and medical workers.

Ford has weathered many financial storms throughout its long history. No doubt it will survive this moment in history too.

When things get back to normal, which new Ford vehicle are you looking forward to the most? Leave me a comment. For me it’s the Bronco but also the F-150.

Jimmy Dinsmore has been an automotive journalist for more than a decade and been a writer since the high school. His Driver’s Side column features new car reviews and runs in several newspapers throughout the country. He is also co-author of the book “Mustang by Design” and “Ford Trucks: A Unique Look at the Technical History of America’s Most Popular Truck”. Also, Jimmy works in the social media marketing world for a Canadian automotive training aid manufacturing company. Follow Jimmy on Facebook, Twitter, at his special Ford F-150 coverage on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can read the most of Jimmy's stories by searching Torque News Ford for daily Ford vehicle report.