Ford F-150 production ramp-up complete, CFO says

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. has finished ramping up production of the 2015 F-150 at both plants that build the aluminum-bodied pickups, CFO Bob Shanks said today, even as a shortage of supplier-built frames keeps the plants from running some scheduled overtime.

During a question-and-answer sessions with analysts, Shanks was asked repeatedly about the frame shortage, which Automotive News reported May 29. He would not confirm that Ford was having trouble getting enough frames from its supplier, Metalsa, saying only that the launch had gone better than initially anticipated.

“Whenever you have launches, you have issues that you have to deal with in the supply base,” Shanks said. “We’re always working closely with suppliers if there’s an issue to sort it out. If that were the case, that’s what we’d be doing.”

Shanks said the F-150 plants in Dearborn, Mich., and Kansas City, Mo., have now completed the launch process and are at “volume production.” The Dearborn plant reached full speed in January, and Ford had previously said Kansas City Assembly would do so by the end of June.

Ford canceled planned overtime production on May 30 in Kansas City because of a shortage of frames from Metalsa’s plant in Kentucky, according to an official with UAW Local 249 in Kansas City. It has canceled several overtime days in Dearborn and ended some regular shifts early in the past few months, workers there have said.

U.S. F-series sales fell 9.7 percent in May, vs. a 17 percent gain for the rest of the pickup segment. Ford said dealers began the month with half as many F-150s in inventory as a year ago.

Shanks said costs related to the model changeover came in below Ford’s projections and transaction prices for the redesigned truck has been “far higher than what was expected” when executives approved the program. F-series buyers paid an average of $43,300 in May, $3,300 more than a year ago and $600 more than in April, the company said Tuesday.