By Mike Colias
Sept 30 (Reuters) – Ford CEO Jim Farley said a supplier issue that affected F-150 pickup-truck output in recent days has been resolved, but the snag has impacted the company’s third-quarter wholesale numbers.
Production of Ford’s best-selling vehicle was halted last week at a Detroit-area factory because of a supply problem, and had been scheduled to resume on Tuesday, Reuters reported last week, citing an internal memo. Ford’s Kansas City F-150 plant also was affected, Reuters reported.
Farley told reporters during an event on Wednesday that the issue with the supplier, which he did not name, has been fixed.
“We are back up and running,” he said. “The supplier issue, you know, we have ways to address it. It is impacting our third-quarter wholesale. But I’m very optimistic.”
Ford shares were down about 2% in early afternoon trading.
Farley also said that the company is “fully recovered” from the effects of two factory fires late last year that disrupted production at aluminum supplier Novelis, crimping Ford’s truck output for much of the year.
The supplier issue that affected Ford’s truck output in the past week was unrelated to the aluminum issue, Reuters reported last week.
Sales of Ford’s F-Series trucks, which fuel the bulk of the company’s profits, fell 11% year over year through August.
(Reporting by Mike Colias; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Mark Porter)
