Ford Aims to Restart Production at Key North American Plants Starting April 6

[dbsb3233]

Yes, but remember the plant is in Mexico not the US. So the UAW and US policy is not as much in play.

That's true. And Mexico doesn't seemed to have gotten hit as bad by the virus. At least so far. Gotta wonder if their wave is still coming. Seems like the countries/cities with a high degree of international travelers are the ones most prone to early spread (like NYC).

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[silverelan]

@hybrid2bev
Since the factory is only producing limited quantities of pre-production test vehicles (as opposed to working prototypes we've all seen), do you think Ford will be able to validate the quality and performance metrics off of what has been made so far?

I've no idea how long it takes to retrain workers and spool machines back up after they've been shutdown for 2-4 weeks. I forget my login password for work after just a week's vacation so I can't imagine trying to get back into the groove of a being a line worker at a factory.

 

[hybrid2bev]

@hybrid2bev
Since the factory is only producing limited quantities of pre-production test vehicles (as opposed to working prototypes we've all seen), do you think Ford will be able to validate the quality and performance metrics off of what has been made so far?

I've no idea how long it takes to retrain workers and spool machines back up after they've been shutdown for 2-4 weeks. I forget my login password for work after just a week's vacation so I can't imagine trying to get back into the groove of a being a line worker at a factory.

I'm not in the PD engineering so it would be pure speculation on my part.

From the images I've seen of the plant we could see about 5-10 units coming down the line as engineering testers that were already made back in I think it was January/February before all the shutdowns. I know that launch operations have been prioritized as business critical, so the engineers are probably still working as best they can from home.

I've been monitoring the Facebook page from the plant. There have been some comments about training still going on (virtually instead of in-person?).

At this point I think we're only looking at a net 1-2 week delay. But some of that lost time maybe clawed back.

 

[silverelan]

Thanks! If I recall correctly, Ford was trying to get the pre-production units back to MI for the engineers to do QA and validations. Hopefully the cars made it up and everything that needs to be done will be possible.

 

[SD_Solar]

tl;dr - delays may affect the timing of $7500 tax incentives.

I'm motivated to take delivery in November or December, 2020. This ensures I get the $7500 tax credit and I'm able to get that back as quickly as I can file my federal tax return in Feb or March 2021.

If the car is delayed by a few months into 2021, then I'm less interested in taking delivery quickly as that means I have to float the $7500 for longer out of pocket all the way into 2022.

Think about filing a new W4 form in Jan 2021 that lowers your Fed Tax Withholding by $7,500 for 2021. You will keep the $7,500 rather sending it to Washington.

I always adjust my Withholding so that I pay the highest portion of my tax liability I can by check on April 15 without triggering the Underpayment Penalty.

Never send money to Washington until you have to.

 

[eastern refugee]

Ford has made the Mach E top priority. Yes people will rethink spending with the current situation. The reality is that works in the buyers way as well. Ford is going to have to do some special financing to turn reservations into real orders. Delivery is way down the road but orders start I think I read like mid May. The actual order date is when Ford should have all of the pricing done and since it is very close to America opening up this could very well work in our favor from a financing view.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Unfortunately for the big automakers, Michigan has one of the fastest coronavirus case increases in the country:

 

[dbsb3233]

and since it is very close to America opening up

Or so we hope.

 

[pbojanoski]

Unfortunately for the big automakers, Michigan has one of the fastest coronavirus case increases in the country:

Data is great, but lets not lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of people in the USA, 320 million plus, do not have Covid-19.

 

[pbojanoski]

Ford has made the Mach E top priority. Yes people will rethink spending with the current situation. The reality is that works in the buyers way as well. Ford is going to have to do some special financing to turn reservations into real orders. Delivery is way down the road but orders start I think I read like mid May. The actual order date is when Ford should have all of the pricing done and since it is very close to America opening up this could very well work in our favor from a financing view.

People will be more conservative with spending for a while. Hopefully this economy gets back moving soon and we are at worst in some form of a management phase of this disease by summer. If the economic downturn can be corrected this year, we might be able to take advantage of some good pricing and financing on the Mach E and still be able to buy what seems to be a great car. I'm a "glass half full" guy and still hoping for that outcome.

 

[zhackwyatt]

Data is great, but lets not lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of people in the USA, 320 million plus, do not have Covid-19.

While most people don't have it, we don't know the numbers. In Arizona it's almost impossible to get tested. Meaning the people have it and are spreading it and the data doesn't show it.

 

[pbojanoski]

While most people don't have it, we don't know the numbers. In Arizona it's almost impossible to get tested. Meaning the people have it and are spreading it and the data doesn't show it.

Agreed, my only point is not to dwell only on the positive cases, but to take some solice in the fact that 99+% of people do not have the virus, as best we know. And if more do, than let's take some positive out of knowing that if millions do have the virus, it is not nearly as deadly as people think it is. Either way you look at it, there is a lot of positive to see, not just negative.

 

[Ken7]

A friend of mine in our condo development may have it. He has most of the symptoms and I had encouraged him to get a doctor's opinion, if he needed to be tested days ago, but he was in denial. Yesterday he acknowledged he probably has it. Now his wife has similar symptoms and they are seeing the doctor tomorrow.

 

[pbojanoski]

A friend of mine in our condo development may have it. He has most of the symptoms and I had encouraged him to get a doctor's opinion, if he needed to be tested days ago, but he was in denial. Yesterday he acknowledged he probably has it. Now his wife has similar symptoms and they are seeing the doctor tomorrow.

Godspeed to them in their recovery.

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