Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — General Motors will reduce production at most North American assembly plants this month because of the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage, hitting its profitable truck and sport utility vehicles, it said Thursday. The largest U.S. automaker will halt production next week at its Fort Wayne plant in Indiana and its Silao plant […] Read more
GM to cut North American production, citing chip shortage
Both GM, Ford cutting truck production
Ford wires its electric trucks for business customers
Tesla, GM seen positioning electric pickups as 'lifestyle vehicles'
Reading Time: 3 minutes Detroit | Reuters — Ford Motor Co.’s newly revealed electric version of its best-selling F-150 pickup doubles down on a bet that the company can beat Tesla and other rivals by giving new technology a familiar face and convincing longtime fleet and business customers that going electric saves money. Ford officially unveiled the battery electric […] Read more
Ford recalling older-model Rangers over airbag inflators
Deaths, injuries linked to faulty inflators
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. is recalling 153,000 older trucks that may have had obsolete Takata air bag modules installed in collision and theft repairs after the Takata recall was completed, the automaker said on Thursday. The second-largest U.S. automaker identified about 8,800 Ford Ranger 2004-06 trucks in Canada and 144,340 in the […] Read more
Ford cuts output of F-150s due to semiconductor shortage
U.S. firm among manufacturers caught off guard
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it is cutting shifts at two U.S. plants that build its highly profitable flagship F-150 pickup trucks starting next week due to a global shortage of semiconductor chips, raising fears the problem could be worsening. The No. 2 U.S. automaker said it will run one of […] Read more
Ford says emissions certification process under federal probe
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday Canadian officials have opened a preliminary investigation into the automaker’s emissions certification process. Ford said in its annual report Environment and Climate Change Canada has opened a probe into the matter after the automaker disclosed early last year that the U.S. Justice Department had opened a […] Read more
Ford recalls Super Duty pickups on post-crash fire risk
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Ford Motor Co. said Friday it would recall 547,538 of its Ford Super Duty pickup trucks across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, citing the risk of a post-crash interior fire. The second-largest U.S. automaker said the recall covers certain models between the years 2017 and 2019 with carpet flooring that could experience a […] Read more
Ford recalls 1.48 million pickups over transmissions
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. said on Wednesday it was recalling about 1.48 million F-150 pickup trucks in North America due to a potential transmission downshift issue that could increase the risk of a crash. Ford said select 2011-2013 model year trucks with six-speed automatic transmission could experience an unintended downshift into first […] Read more
Ford recalls two million trucks over seat-belt fire concerns
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. said on Thursday it would recall two million F-150 pickup trucks in North America to address fire concerns relating to seat belts that have been linked to three serious incidents but no injuries. The second-largest U.S. automaker said it was aware of 17 reports of smoke or fire […] Read more
New farm trucks
Detroit’s Big Three are redesigning their pickups for 2019
Reading Time: 3 minutes This year, Ford, GM and FCA’s Ram brand marketing staff had a lot to talk about at the major auto shows. All three have given their pickup truck lines some serious overhauls, with new engines and a wider range of materials in their bodies and chassis, plus new drivetrain configurations all working their way into […] Read more
Heavy factory, dealer discounts fuel U.S. truck price war
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Heavy discounts of up to US$16,000 per vehicle are fueling a “truck war” among full-size pickups sold in the U.S. by the Detroit Three, a Reuters analysis shows. Strong U.S. sales this year of the highly profitable big trucks have helped offset lagging passenger car sales. But it is not clear how much […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
