Ford is forced to shut down production of the Ford Focus in Saarlouis, Germany for a full month due to a lack of microchips. The shortage of microchips is a global problem for car manufacturers.
As of Monday, Ford will shut down production at the Saarlouis plant, which employs approximately 5,000 people, for a month. Ford previously had to shut down a factory in the United States due to a shortage of semiconductors. Not only Ford is affected by this problem, Honda, Volkswagen, Audi and Daimler are also experiencing the consequences. At Volkswagen, the production of about 100,000 cars is at risk.
The problem with the microchips is because chip companies are struggling to keep up with the sharply increased demand. Smartphones, laptops and game consoles also use it. Car manufacturers therefore have to compete with tech companies such as Apple, Samsung and Microsoft. The distribution problems caused by the stricter lockdowns due to the coronavirus do not help to close the shortage.