Some Ford Explorers won't have rear air conditioning and heating controls in the future.
Ford recently announced it would soon sell and ship some of its Explorer sports utility vehicles (SUVs) without the electronics necessary to control the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning from the rear passenger seats, per a report from The Verge.
Ford's Reason Behind The Decision
Ford said in its announcement that its decision is part of its efforts to get cars to customers faster despite the ongoing semiconductor shortage, per Engadget.
The multinational automobile manufacturer also mentioned that it would offer the SUVs lacking this chip at a discount with the promise of shipping the missing chip to dealers within one year. These chips can then be installed separately in customers' vehicles after purchase.
However, the manufacturer did not specify how much the discount would be.
Said Deep, Ford's spokesperson, later added that the cars without the chip in question would have a finished matching plate where the rear air conditioning and heating controls would have been, per the Detroit Free Press.
It is not New
This instance isn't the first time Ford decided to cut back on some of its cars' features. The automaker previously planned to ship partially-built, undrivable cars to Ford dealers in 2021 due to the semiconductor shortage, according to a separate Detroit Free Article.
"This is a scenario we are still exploring, and we want to be prepared should we decide to implement, which is why we are talking to our dealers now," Said Deep said.
The Detriot Free Press mentioned in its report that Ford considered this particular move to fill dealer lots that were "growing barer by the day."
The automaker also decided to temporarily halt or scale back its production of a few of its assembly plants in North America in February due to the difficulty of obtaining semiconductor chips, Assembly's report said.
One of the plants Ford shut down was Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant, which was also repeatedly shut down in 2021 due to the lack of semiconductors for rearview cameras, lane assist, parallel parking assist, and other new technological features found in modern cars.
The semiconductor shortage has also affected other automakers and industries. A separate Engadget article mentioned that BMW removed touchscreen features from some models due to the shortage.
Sony and Microsoft are also having trouble with the supply lines of their current-gen consoles to retailers and online markets like Amazon.
The semiconductor shortage occurred at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic forced factories to close to prevent the virus from spreading. It also caused a sudden spike in demand for consumer tech products to enable people to work and study from home.
The Trump administration's trade war with China and semiconductor companies outsourcing the fabrication of their chips were also factors of the shortage, per CNBC.
