Ford Motor Co. will resume its full, pre-coronavirus production schedule in the U.S. on Monday, two weeks sooner than it had planned. When Fiat Chrysler Automobiles restarts its second shift at Belvidere Assembly in Illinois on Monday, it too will be back to regular production.
And General Motors Co. said all of its truck and SUV plants are firing on all cylinders again, with most car and crossover plants operating at pre-pandemic levels.
The ramp-ups come five weeks after the U.S. auto industry restarted North American operations after being shut down for eight weeks to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Plants came back online on reduced schedules, in part to allow workers to get used to new health and safety protocols that include measures such as daily temperature checks and required face coverings.
Ford at first was mum on when it expected to get back to its normal production schedule; then, last week, the automaker signaled it expected to return all U.S. plants to pre-coronavirus capacity by July 6.
Those plans have now been bumped up, thanks to the readiness of Ford’s workforce and supply base, Kelli Felker, Ford’s global manufacturing and communication managers, told The Detroit News: “We are pleased to be able to return to our normal operating pattern in the U.S. on Monday — which is sooner than expected — because our workforce and suppliers are able to support. The safety of our workforce continues to be our top priority.”
She noted that U.S. production accounts for the “vast majority” of the Dearborn automaker’s global operations. Ford, as well as other automakers, resumed production in other markets, including China and Europe, prior to North America.
The ramp-up comes as Ford is gearing up for key product launches that are upcoming, including the redesigned F-150 pickup truck — Ford’s best-selling vehicle — that the automaker will reveal next week and plans to bring to showrooms later this year.
Ford’s crosstown rivals are also working to reach full production capacity, in a bid to make up for lost time and replenish dealer inventories to meet demand that has been higher than initially predicted at the onset of the pandemic.
The auto industry on average had a 60.9-day supply of inventory in May, down from 64.2 in May 2019 and from 120.7 in April, according to the latest data from Edmunds.com Inc., an auto information website.
Fiat Chrysler builds the Jeep Cherokee at Belvidere Assembly. With the resumption of the second shift there, “all of our North American assembly plants will be back at their pre-COVID operating patterns next week,” Fiat Chrysler spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said.
“All of GM’s U.S. truck and SUV plants are back on three shifts and nearly all of our car and crossover plants are working the same number of shifts as they did pre-pandemic,” GM spokesman Dan Flores said. “More than 90% of our hourly team is back to work. As a course of normal business, we will continue to monitor the marketplace and adjust production as needed.”
jgrzelewski@detroitnews.com
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