Ford 2009 F-150 production delayed – economy and high gas prices to blame

Auto giant Ford Motor Co has decided to put off the production of its 2009 F-150 pickup truck owing to drop in sales of pickups and sport utility vehicles.

Ford dealerships across America are finding it hard to sell the current lot of F-150 trucks they have, and launching the new model is not viable at this point. The dealers are struggling to sell their current lot of F-150s are a discount, and a new 2009 model is not going to help them at all.

The move comes close to the realization by Ford Motor Co that it might suffer losses on automotive operations this year. If the loss comes about, it is expected that Ford would fail even to break even in 2009, making its predictions go for a toss. Ford will now introduce the new F-150 2009 model two months later than normal. The F-150 pickup truck is one of the crucial models of Ford.

The decision to delay production of the new 2009 model F-150 pickups follow the economic downturn that has affected most of the auto manufacturers in the US. To add to the woes, the $4 per gallon gasoline has sent made buyers stay away from pickups and SUVs. It is a known fact that the US auto market is declining this year. It has been pointed out that Ford sales are not expected to rise above 14.9 million and could go as low as 14.4 million. It may be recalled that just a month ago, Ford dropped its forecast to a range of 14.7 million to 15.1 million. Recently, Ford’s Bob Nardelli had warned employees that the 2008 automobile market in US ws turning out worse then his direst predictions.

The plummeting sales numbers are also prompting Ford to reduce third-quarter production by another 50,000 vehicles. The company will produce 475,000 vehicles, which is a clear 25 percent fewer than the third quarter of last year. It expects that the fourth-quarter production will drop by another 40,000 vehicles to a range of 550,000 to 590,000.

Significantly, a major chunk of the “production cuts will come from extending the normal two-week summer shutdown at pickup and SUV plants, as well as shift and assembly line speed reductions,” Ford has said. F-series trucks had accounted for 27 percent of Ford’s US. sales last year, generating much of the company’s revenue. But sales are off 19 percent for the first five months of the year and plummeted 31 percent in May, it has said.

The automobile market due to high gas prices and slow economy has not really got Ford by surprise – everyone managed to predict it at least two years earlier. But it still has happened too fast for US car makers to switch to small car production instead.

Ford meanwhile is expected to increase production of its Focus small car which competes with the Honda Civic, as well as the Mercury Mariner and Ford Escape small SUVs.