Ford keeps his word. The European division of the blue oval has decided to stop production of the Fiesta and Focus for an indefinite period. This is how a German newspaper reports, in which it notes that orders for the utility and compact have been blocked throughout the European continent due to a significant lack of parts, and giving preference to SUVs.
The Ford Fiesta It has lost steam since the Puma landed on the market, and the Kuga, especially its plug-in hybrid version, is a bestseller, filling the order books like a beast. Two SUVs versus a utility and a compact, the focus, who have seen how the brand has decided to give preference to the all-road couple. A strategy to which the German plant in Saarlouis has been led after years at the top, and which has raised all kinds of rumours.
Especially since the German factory manufactures the Fiesta and Focus, while the Puma arrives from Krakow and the Kuga from the Spanish Almussafes. A report in a local German newspaper points out that the reason is none other than the high demand for these two models, which accumulate long delivery times due to the shortage of componentswhich has caused close the orders across the continent.
More than six months to deliver a Ford Focus
Authorized voices from the works council of the German plant, such as Markus Thal, have indicated that “The order bank will remain closed, there are difficulties, especially with the Fiesta and other Ford models on the assembly lines, so it’s not just the Focus that’s stuck.” A situation that will force the production forecasts for this year to be lowered, so that of the 195,000 units planned, the brand will only will reach 117,000, which is 40 percent less.
The German newspaper “Saarbrücker Zeitung” points out that the situation is more than complicated, because customers who are interested in the compact and decide to order it today, it would not be delivered until next spring, around April or May 2023. The lack of some essential components in the manufacture forces to leave half-manufactured units, being more than complicated to know the exact deadlines to receive orders and resume production.
The big problem is that this exceptionality has opened up all kinds of speculation about the future of the Saarlouis plant, of which it is truly unknown what will happen to her after the Spanish company from Almussafes has received the assignment of a couple of electric models, in addition to the continuity in the production of the Kuga. German sources fear that the definitive cessation of production of the Focus is ahead of schedule.
Font: Saarbrücker Zeitung