Ford weighs shipping vehicles missing chips for dealerships to finish

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is weighing plans to start shipping partially built vehicles that are awaiting semiconductors or related components to dealerships around the country, a move that, if approved, would place responsibility on its retail network to complete the assembly once the chips are available.

The automaker began detailing the plans, which are not final, to some of its dealers this week, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions. Only dealers who would choose to receive the unfinished vehicles would get shipments and service technicians would be trained on how to install the chips, one of the people said. Dealerships would be compensated for slightly less than an hour's worth of labor for each vehicle, the person said.

Still unclear is whether the dealers would be responsible for the vehicles while they sit on their lots awaiting chips. Dealers are not expected to have to floorplan the vehicles before they're finished, one person said. The people asked not to be identified discussing internal company plans.

Ford is considering shifting its strategy, the people said, to ease the glut of unfinished vehicles piling up on company-owned lots around the country so it can keep assembly plants running. By essentially moving the vehicles now, Ford would be able to get them into customers' hands more quickly once the chips are ready instead of having to ship vehicles en masse at a later date.

“We are exploring a number of different options as we work to get our customers and dealers their new vehicles as quickly as possible," a Ford spokesman said.

Some dealers who spoke with Automotive News said they're concerned about shifting the responsibility — and potential liability — from the factory to the dealer body. Others, however, applauded the move because it gives them something to put on their nearly empty lots.

Ford has been hit hard by the chip crisis, saying earlier this year that the shortage will cost it $2.5 billion and slash its production this year by 1.1 million vehicles. Dealer lots have dried up, and customers who placed orders have been forced to wait months.

In late April, Ford said it had 22,000 partially built vehicles awaiting chips. It's unclear how much that number has grown.

The company has attempted to ease the crisis by focusing on custom-built orders and offering buyers $1,000 off if they place an order that will be fulfilled at a later date.