Bronco Production Will Stop For Two Weeks Due To Chip Shortage

Car companies today face unbelievable challenges. Not only do they have to fight  competitors in a very tough market, but they also need to follow  government-proposed safety and environmental guidelines while still making cars exciting enough to attract ever so discriminating customers.

Further still, even if they manage to do all of that, they're still faced with global challenges that are beyond their control. We all know that the COVID-19 crisis has profoundly affected the automotive industry, but we couldn't have predicted the extent to which its consequences would continue to be a factor. The latest semiconductor shortage is a prime example.

If you read the news, you probably already know that a series computer chip problem is the latest Covid-related setback for the automotive industry.  And, since electronics control nearly all functions of modern vehicles, having no chips on hand to install during the production process means that companies simply cannot assemble their cars.

The demand for new vehicles has been astronomical, especially in a recovering post-COVID-19 economy. This would normally be a piece of excellent news for companies across the board if they were able to meet that demand. Unfortunately, due to this chip shortage, production has been halted or, at best, slowed, and even though you may well have money in hand, dealers just don’t have vehicles to sell you.

Ford has already announced that some of its factories will be shutting down for two weeks due to this shortage. They had originally announced that Ford Bronco production would not be affected, but as of last week Ford announced that the production of the Bronco Sport in their Hermosillo Assembly Plant in Mexico would, in fact,  be stopping.

Industry insiders knew that it was only a matter of time before the production of the 2021 Bronco would be halted, as well. That happened yesterday, and Ford released an internal memo listing all of its factories that will be taking a two-week break during the month of May. Six major production facilities across North America and Mexico will be affected, with the Michigan Assembly Plant (home of 2021 Bronco) shutting down for two weeks, starting May 17th.

So, what does this mean for eager Bronco customers and the Bronco community? Well, it means another delay -- this time about two to three weeks in length, in terms of build dates and expected delivery. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a big problem, since these vehicles will be produced, just two to three weeks later than anticipated, which should be acceptable.

Another essential piece of information is that the Michigan Assembly Plant will skip its summer shutdown in order to iron out the delays, which is good news.

It also means that Ford is facing yet another bump in the already difficult and stressful road of re-introducing the Bronco from its 25-year long hiatus. If you remember, this is not the first production delay, and Ford had several problems even before the first vehicles were shown to the public.

This is something that is undeniably beyond their control. The biggest question now is not when Ford will resume production -- they will do so at the earliest date possible -- but how many potential customers will withdraw their orders after tiring of still another delay? We guess that the answer will be "not many", since the hype surrounding the Bronco is so big and people have already waited so long that a couple of weeks more won't matter that much.