Three of Ford's plants, including the plant in Wayne, Mich., has seen production delays due to the winter storms hitting the U.S.
Winter storms are continuing to batter the auto industry as the freezing weather stalls sales and closes down assembly lines, according to executives around the industry as the latest storms swept through the South.
Companies such as Kia and Porsche were forced to shut down their offices in Atlanta when the governor of Georgia ordered schools and businesses closed ahead of this week’s storm, which paralyzed much of the Southeast.
Mike Sprague, Kia executive vice president of sales and marketing, said this week the adverse winter weather has definitely had an impact on sales in recent weeks. It’s cut into showroom traffic, he noted. The flip side is the freeze on sales in only temporary, he said. “At some point it’s going to turn around and there is going to be a lot of pent up demand,” he added.
Meanwhile, the storms are also taking a toll on production the Kia assembly plant in West Point, Ga., found itself without components after the last set of storms, which also paralyzed Atlanta, had rolled through Georgia and thousands of motorists were stranded on the region’s highways.
This week motorists were stranded for hours around Charlotte, N.C., because of the wintry weather, according to the Weather Channel.
Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford North America, acknowledged recently Ford had lost production this winter primarily due to parts shortages. At various times the weather halted production at Ford assembly plants in Flat Rock, Dearborn and Wayne, Mich., which all are near Detroit, according to workers. It has not been uncommon to have trucks delivering parts wind up stalled by ice and snow, Hinrichs.
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“I can’t remember a winter like this,” Hinrichs said.
Automakers, which are faced with the task of managing inventories, can usually make up lost production by scheduling overtime, if necessary.
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The larger issue for carmakers, however, is keeping tabs of sales. With key markets such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta and even Dallas choked off by winter weather, it’s difficult for manufacturers to get an accurate read on consumer demand.
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Chuck Stevens, GM’s chief financial officer, told analysts during a conference call presenting the company’s fourth quarter earnings, that GM has not changed it basic 2014 forecast, which calls for industry-wide sales this year of 16 million to 16.5 million vehicles in the United States.