Ford resumed production at seven plants on Monday after fixing a problem it discovered in its engine transmissions that halted output on Thursday, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
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Ford continued the shutdown all day on Friday, idling about 15,000 workers – three plants were shut down in Michigan, including Dearborn Truck, Michigan Truck and Wixom Assembly, along with plants in Norfolk, Virginia, Avon Lake, Ohio, and Cuautitlan, Mexico. The truck side of Kansas City Assembly plant in Claycomo, Missouri, also was shut down, the report added.
AP said that Ford found problems in the clutch mechanism of four-speed, rear-wheel-drive automatic transmissions – the mechanism, provided by an unidentified supplier, makes the vehicles shift smoothly between first and second gears.
Affected vehicles included F-150 pickups, Expedition sport utility vehicles, E-Series vans and buses and the Lincoln Town Car, a Ford spokeswoman told the news agency. She added the issue was corrected internally and no customers bought the affected vehicles.
The Associated Press said Ford plans to make up the lost day of production at a later time but wouldn’t say how much production was lost during the shutdown.
However, JPMorgan analyst Himanshu Patel told AP he estimated the affected factories combined make more than 4,300 vehicles a day.
