Jim Farley really wants to build Mustangs.
The Ford (f) – Get the Ford Motor Company Report CEO laid out the company’s goals for the Mustang Mach-E, the electric version of the classic pony car, in one tweet At the end of last year.
“The Incredible Demand”
“It’s hard to get Mustang Mach-Es in production fast enough to keep up with the incredible demand, but we’re definitely going to try,” Farley said in December. “So starting in 2022 we are increasing production and expect to reach more than 200,000 units per year for North America and Europe by 2023. That is triple our production in 2021.”
Sales for the Mach-E have been so strong in the U.S. that the automaker said retail order banks will be closed “due to unprecedented demand” in mid-2022.
“We will continue to sell the limited number of units remaining from dealer inventory,” a Ford spokesman told TheStreet in an emailed statement. “We will share the order details for MY23 as soon as possible.”
Mach-Es may be in short supply in the US, but the vehicles are available in Europe. A check of Ford’s European website revealed Mach-Es are in stock.
The spokesperson noted that Ford plans to use its entire Cuautitlan, Mexico plant to produce the Mustang Mach-E and ramp up production starting this year.
The spokesman confirmed that the carmaker expects 200,000 units per year in 2023. Ford will therefore not increase production despite the high demand.
Lockdown of Shanghai
Businesses are struggling with supply chain issues triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
And the global supply chain could take another hit as China continues its zero-Covid policy, which has caused food shortages in Shanghai, home of the world’s largest port.
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Several commenters on Twitter have released a map showing dozens of merchant ships waiting offshore.
There are reports of residents of the city shouting from their balconies.
City officials have asked for public cooperation with a massive new push to test most of the population for Covid-19, according to Reuters.
According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, China is currently the United States’ largest commodity trading partner. In 2020, the US imported about $435 billion worth of goods from Chinese cities and sent another $125 billion in exports to the country.
On Monday, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met with officials from the United States and other countries to discuss the impact of Covid controls, Bloomberg reported.
commodity volatility
Chinese officials vowed to work with international companies to resolve supply chain issues, while reaffirming Beijing’s stance on maintaining its Covid-zero approach
Commodities are also an issue for automakers, and the Ford spokesman recently said that “we are constantly monitoring and managing volatility in commodity and component availability and prices — as we have for the past two years.”
“It is worth noting that we have very limited direct sourcing from Ukraine and Russia,” the spokesman said. “However, the situation in Central Europe could exacerbate general supply chain issues for the industry, including Ford. We have signed nickel supply contracts for the next few years to support our ambitious EV targets.”
Earlier this month, Ford signed a tentative agreement to purchase lithium, a key ingredient in car batteries, from a Lake Resources facility in Argentina.
According to Reuters, Ford intends to purchase 25,000 tons annually of lithium from the Kachi Lake Project in northern Argentina, which is being developed with privately held extraction startup Lilac Solutions.