LAS VEGAS — Ford Motor Co., beset by ongoing production woes, told dealers on Saturday it was pushing back allocations and that wholesale deliveries will be lighter until the end of May, although it continues to produce vehicles and fill customer orders.
Ford dealers who attended a make meeting told Automotive News they did not expect new stock allocations until the end of May due to production cuts, although Ford spokesman Said Deep said the company continues “building for both retail and stock.”
That means new-car showrooms that have been nearly empty for months will remain so during what is typically a healthy spring selling season for the industry.
Ford has lost 100,000 units of production due to 37 suppliers failing to provide parts as scheduled, the automaker told dealers in a meeting at the NADA Show here, according to three people present.
The issue has exacerbated Ford's inventory woes that have left most dealership lots bare. Ford said it received 90,000 new-vehicle orders in January and another 72,000 orders in February, suggesting the company remains hampered by a backlog of orders amid production cuts. In February, some 33 percent of the company's U.S. retail sales fulfilled previous customer orders.
Ford executives on Saturday forecast the company's U.S. retail sales in 2022 will be 1.66 million, according to two of the people present. Ford expects to capture 13.3 percent of the U.S. market this year, the two people said, which would be an increase over last year.
The company expects its total U.S. volume to increase this year and projects an increase in global wholesale volume of 10 to 15 percent, a spokesman said in a statement.
Ford's U.S. sales fell 21 percent in February and are off 11 percent year-to-date.
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