Car parts travel long distances before they are assembled into the automobiles we know and love and drive. These supply lines are vulnerable to the same types of disruption as other types of travel, and this became very apparent after an Icelandic volcano erupted, shutting down air traffic in Europe.

Among the victims of the volcanic ash cloud was Ford, which had to close two plants because of parts shortages: the Mustang plant in Flat Rock, Mich. (where the Mazda6 is also made), and the Focus plant in Wayne, Mich.

Elsewhere, parts shortages led to a week long shutdown at BMW’s plant in South Carolina because the transmissions and other components coming from Germany couldn’t get off the ground.

The supply chains for automotive parts are long and complex and often involve the kind of trans-Atlantic flights that were completely shut down by the volcanic ash cloud. Though that cloud has now cleared, geologists fear another eruption could be triggered in the coming months.

[source]

 

wow.. that sucks hard.. just when everything in the indusrty was getting better too.. just comes to show that supply routs are still vastly important and very fragile



on a lighter note i liike that GT/CS tho

 

Very true. Ford operates on a "just on time" warehousing system to save money on storage fees, etc. ... Unfortunately, when something like this pops up ... DISASTER.

 

Man the auto industry is just getting hit from every angle these days.It's got to give soon!!!

 

Just a minor delay for the good guys at Ford.