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Ford Motor is reportedly slowing down production on several of its most profitable models after a devastating fire disrupted supplies from one of its biggest aluminum suppliers.
Starting this week, the company has paused output of its three-row Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs at its Kentucky Truck Plant for about a week, according to a memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. A United Auto Workers official confirmed the pause, citing difficulties sourcing aluminum after the blaze at Novelis’s plant in upstate New York.
Ford didn’t share details about which models are affected but said it’s working closely with Novelis and exploring all possible alternatives to limit the fallout. The company apparently described the decision as pulling forward pre-planned downtime that had originally been scheduled for later in 2025.
The fire, which broke out last month, forced Novelis to shut the plant until early next year. Industry analysts estimate the site supplies roughly 40% of the aluminum sheet used by U.S. automakers. Ford, the plant’s largest customer, is especially vulnerable because aluminum is central to the F-150 pickup, the top-selling vehicle in the U.S. and the backbone of its profits.
Analysts at AutoForecast Solutions warned that if production of Ford’s F-Series trucks is disrupted, the company could lose as much as $1 billion in operating profit. For now, Ford has kept its F-Series and Super Duty lines running, but a UAW representative told workers the Kentucky plant “may run short today, tonight, and possibly over the next few shifts.”
To stretch its aluminum supply, Ford briefly stopped operations at another Louisville plant last week and restarted it this week with just one shift. That plant is finishing production of the Escape and Lincoln Corsair SUVs, which will wrap up by December as Ford prepares to retool the facility for a new electric pickup.
The automaker has also paused production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup at its Dearborn, Michigan, facility because of the aluminum shortage, Reuters reported.
Ford is already managing several cost pressures this year, including roughly $2 billion in expenses linked to Trump-era tariffs and about $5 billion in losses from its electric-vehicle division. The company is now working to import aluminum from overseas while waiting for the Novelis plant to come back online, expected around March or April.
Novelis said it’s evaluating whether aluminum from its overseas plants or competitors could meet Ford’s technical standards. While qualification usually takes months, the company expects the process to move faster since it already supplies automakers globally.
Wells Fargo analysts estimate a 20% drop in F-Series sales during the fourth quarter could lower Ford’s operating income by about $800 million. Evercore ISI analysts project production losses of 20,000 to 50,000 trucks from the roughly 130,000 units planned for the final two months of the year.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Ford was ‘neutral’ amid ‘high’ message volume.
Ford’s stock has risen 24% so far in 2025.
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