Unfinished Ford Trucks Keep Piling Up in Massive Lots Visible From Space
News emerged this week that Ford has parked around 40,000 unfinished new vehicles waiting for parts.
If you thought parts shortages couldn't get any worse for the auto industry than they did last year, then it's time to hit reset. We've seen multiple car companies, including international giants like Honda and Toyota, struggle to deliver vehicles simply because they can't source the components they need. The same is true with Ford, which announced this week that up to 45,000 vehicles will be held in its inventory this quarter until they receive essential parts—mainly chips.
The Blue Oval has made use of Kentucky Speedway's many lots to store its many trucks until they can be sent to dealers. We reported on this in May 2021, and while Ford eventually worked its way through that stockpile, more started flooding in toward the end of August. Nearly a month later, the situation has gotten visibly worse.
You can see that the auxiliary lots to the east of Kentucky Speedway were just the beginning. Now, the race track is surrounded by thousands of Super Duty pickups that have never even been titled. It's a clear representation of what Ford and many others, both domestic and international, continue to face as demand far outpaces production capacity.
Pat Brindley Roeder, a Kentucky local who also witnessed the influx in parked trucks last year, says this is just one of the locations Ford is using for storage. She tells me that many more are being held at a former ammunition plant in Charlestown, Indiana, which is about 25 minutes from the Super Duty plant.
In a press release on Monday, Ford noted that inflation-related supplier costs are trending $1 billion higher than originally projected. That's the last thing anyone wants to hear, especially consumers who will almost certainly shoulder these increases. It's how business goes and as long as people continue to pay, it's doubtful that we'll see MSRPs drop much, if at all.
Ford is revealing its next-generation Super Duty on Tuesday, Sept. 27. Of course, it won't be the company's first new truck unveiled amidst this manufacturing crisis. One thing you can count on is Ford and every other automaker prioritizing high-margin vehicle production, which definitely includes high-trimmed F-250s and F-350s.
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