Rio Tinto and BHP Agree to Explore Major Iron Ore Collaboration in Pilbara 
Toyota Industries Buyout Faces Resistance as Elliott Rejects Higher Offer 
South Korea Exports Hit Record High as Global Trade Momentum Builds 
U.S. Dollar Steadies Ahead of Fed Minutes as Markets Eye Policy Divisions 
Federal Judge Clears Way for Jury Trial in Elon Musk’s Fraud Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Microsoft 
Oil Prices Stabilize at Start of 2026 as OPEC+ Policy and Geopolitical Risks Shape Market Outlook 
Taiwan Issues Arrest Warrant for OnePlus CEO Over Alleged Illegal Recruitment Activities 
xAI Restricts Grok Image Editing After Sexualized AI Images Trigger Global Scrutiny 
Asian Markets Slip as Precious Metals Cool, Geopolitical Tensions Weigh on Sentiment 
Federal Reserve Begins Treasury Bill Purchases to Stabilize Reserves and Money Markets 
Chevron Set to Expand Venezuela Operations as U.S. Signals Shift on Oil Sanctions 
Boeing Reaches Tentative Labor Deal With SPEEA Workers After Spirit AeroSystems Acquisition 
White House Pressures PJM to Act as Data Center Energy Demand Threatens Grid Reliability 
China’s AI Models Narrow the Gap With the West, Says Google DeepMind CEO 
Wall Street Ends Mixed as Tech and Financial Stocks Weigh on Markets Amid Thin Holiday Trading 
Walmart International CEO Kathryn McLay to Step Down After Two and a Half Years 
Trump Delays Tariff Increases on Furniture and Cabinets for One More Year 
Ford Motor Company is planning to temporarily stop or reduce production in eight of its plants located in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The suspensions will run throughout next week, and the automaker cited chip shortage as the reason.
According to Reuters, the plan was revealed just a day after it issued a warning that chip supply shortage may result in lower vehicle volume in the current quarter. Ford Motor is suspending production works in its plants in Michigan, Cuautitlan, Mexico, and Chicago while in Kansas City, the production of its F-150 pickup trucks will be reduced, and only one shift for the building of its Transit vans has been scheduled.
In addition, Ford Motor will also implement a single shift at its factories in Louisville, Dearborn, and Kentucky. In its Oakville, Canada factory, the automaker will suspend all overtime work schedules. It was reported that all changes in the production are set to take effect on Feb. 7.
Fox Business reported that this announcement coming from a major American automaker shows the continuous effect of the supply-chain setbacks that have been happening for a long time now. And this is not only happening in the U.S. but worldwide. National economies have also been affected by the chip shortage that has not been resolved yet despite the efforts of chipmakers.
At any rate, Ford Motor warned that the unavailability of semiconductor parts is likely to hurt the company's current financial quarter. It was mentioned on CNBC that aside from the F-150 pickup trucks, the other vehicle models that will be affected by the suspension or reduced production shifts are the Explorer SUVs., Bronco, Ford Mustang Mach-E crossover electric vehicle, Lincoln Aviator, and Ranger pickups.
"As we see us move through the second half of 2022, we see the chip crisis easing," John Lawler, Ford's chief financial officer, told Maria Bartiromo in an exclusive interview on Fox Business' "Mornings with Maria." "That is why we are confident in our volumes in 2022 being up about 10 to 15%."
Lawler further said that the chip shortage coupled with the impact of the pandemic's omicron variant have punched a hole in Ford Motor's fourth quarter, but they may soon get back as the chip crisis eases up.
