https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN2BA2X3
This is not good news. My truck is being built this week, hopefully.

 

Not a surprise.

 

Yep, and the next article you will see will be about a shortage in plastic parts. Specifically glass filled nylon under hood parts.

 

What are you referring to?

 

I got my VIN yesterday with a scheduled build week of April 19th. I don't want a truck partially built, pushed to a parking lot for weeks and then completed at a later date. Considering cancelling my order, I don't need a new truck with "some assembly required".

 

Duplicate post.

 

Chemical shortages that are used in the process of making plastic resin is leading to major disruptions for suppliers (including mine) of plastic molded parts.

 

The only good news (hopefully) for those of us who have already ordered (or will be ordering) is that ordered customer (ie, presold) vehicles will get priority for manufacturing over stock (ie, unsold) vehicles, Presold vehicles give immediate profit and income to the dealer and manufacturer, whereas vehicles simply ordered for dealer stock do not.

 

Does anyone know if this practice of "partially" building a vehicle, and then coming back at a later date to finish it (assembly steps out of order), is something that's been employed before? I'm sure the plants have already optimized the normal production steps in order, and those that work the line are extremely proficient at those steps in that order. The idea concerns me a bit, where now coming back and adding parts, where you have to work around other already installed parts that aren't normally there, may cause quality issues.

No idea if that's a real risk or not.

 

Yes, this is a normal procedure. Whether it's been done before to the extent it may be now, or for these kinds of components, I can't say. One simple example is when a major safety recall happens, they sometimes halt shipments and hold the vehicles at the plant until a fix is found, then they put the fix in and ship. Another example would be the launch of the new Explorer which involved thousands of vehicles being held.