It’s a story that has become familiar since the beginning of the pandemic and continues to this day: Ford is keeping the car due to a lack of spare parts. Essentially, the automaker ran out of its trademark blue oval badges, along with the model nameplates.
Ford is currently holding back about 45,000 vehicles due to a shortage of parts, though the automaker declined to comment on how the lack of blue oval badges affects the delay. Sources say The Wall Street Journal that is indeed the case:
According to people familiar with the matter, the car company has struggled to provide brand badges and nameplates that clearly state the vehicle model. Both of these parts are affixed to the exterior of the vehicle and are important identifiers for the car manufacturer’s products. A spokesperson for the company confirmed it had withheld some vehicle shipments because of a lack of badges.
The shortage is affecting Ford’s popular F-Series pickup trucks, residents said.
Ford executives considered several workarounds, such as 3-D printing badges until permanent badges could be obtained, several people said. But they didn’t feel the alternative prints would meet the standard for quality, the people said.
A Ford spokesperson said the company is building and shipping trucks with the blue oval badges, retrofitting those built without the Ford logo, and delivering them to dealers. physical. The company declined to comment on the 3-D printing proposal.
On Monday, Ford said it expected to have about 40,000 to 45,000 vehicles in inventory by the end of the third quarter. Cannot be shipped to dealers because they are waiting for the necessary parts. Many of these vehicles are trucks and SUVs with high margins, and the shortfall is mainly related to parts other than semiconductors, the company said.
WSJ suggests that this delay may be due to some recent manufacturing issues involving a Ford supplier: Tribar Manufacturing. The company manufactures model badges and nameplates at its facility in the Detroit suburb of Wixom, Michigan. It counts some of the biggest automakers in the world as its customers, not just Ford but also GM and Toyota.
Above July 29, Tribar overwhelms the local water treatment plant contaminated water has 5% hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen. An employee at Tribar alarmed a staggering 460 times in three hours. Toxic-laden water is likely to be released into an essential waterway at the very height of summer in the densely populated Metro Detroit area. State agencies later accused the company of complicating the investigation into the spill. Thousands of residents are banned from contacting and participating in recreational activities around the river.
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At least two points in the Huron River waterline have tested positive for high covalent chromium, but levels remain within safe limits for fish and wildlife. No more chromium was found despite repeated testing. Tribar credits its own filters and water treatment plant to remove harmful chemicals, WSJ report. The plant is currently operating at full capacity. Tribar Manufacturing confirmed Ford is now a customer, but declined to provide any further information on whether the spill caused a shortage of parts from its factory.
This is not the first time that Tribar has poisoned the waterways of the Huron River. Company responsible for issuing an “astronomical” amount of PFAS into the water, resulting in years of, perhaps permanent, “no food” orders for fish caught in the waterways fed by the Huron River.
