Ford to resume production of F-Series pickups

Ford will resume building its biggest moneymaker, the F-150 pickup, two weeks after a fire at a supplier’s factory halted production of trucks at three plants.

Production of F-Series pickups will restart first at Ford’s Dearborn, Michigan, factory today, then at plants in Kentucky and Missouri on Monday. The automaker said all three factories will be at full production by Monday and rebuilt its supply chain for key magnesium parts used in the trucks and sport utility vehicles including the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Explorer.

“The situation is still changing hour-by-hour and we could still encounter some obstacles, but I’m confident the team will continue to charge ahead and find ways to deliver,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of global operations, said. “Returning our plants to production ahead of our initial estimated timing means less of an adverse effect on the company’s near-term results.”

Hinrichs declined to say how many trucks Ford expects to lose from the disruption. James Albertine, an analyst with Consumer Edge Research, estimated Thursday that Ford will have lost output of 30,000 to 35,000 pickups due to the shutdown. With F-Series trucks selling for an average price of about $46,900, that suggests the company may miss out on about $1.6 billion in revenue.

The May 2 explosion and fire at the Chinese-owned Meridian Magnesium Products plant in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, disrupted output for Ford and several other automakers, including General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz.