Ford Says Bronco Delay Caused by Virus-Hampered Part Supplier
- The SUV’s removable roof is believed to be behind the holdup
- Pandemic prevented parts engineers from traveling from Europe
This article is for subscribers only.
Ford Motor Co. says a delay in the launch of its new Bronco sport-utility vehicle was caused by a single parts supplier that couldn’t bring engineers with critical equipment to the U.S. from Europe on schedule because of the global pandemic.
“We have one particular supplier that was really impacted by Covid because most of their tooling was coming from Europe,” Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s global-product development chief, said Monday in an interview. “Given where we saw their readiness, we wanted to make sure we gave them sufficient time to do multiple quality loops to ensure that we deliver with quality.”