Ford’s Mich. Assembly, Flat Rock face temporary idling

Ford Motor Co. is planning shutdowns of a week or more at multiple North American plants – including Flat Rock Assembly and Michigan Assembly – the automaker said Tuesday.

The shutdowns come as U.S. automobile sales have stagnated through most of 2017 following consecutive record sales years and increased production.

The shutdowns are as follows:

■Flat Rock Assembly will idle production for two weeks.

■Michigan Assembly in Wayne will idle for one week.

■Kansas City Assembly in Missouri will idle for two weeks.

■Cuautitlan Assembly in Mexico will idle for three weeks.

■Hermosillo Assembly in Mexico will idle for two weeks.

The company did not give dates for the shutdowns.

The shutdowns will affect plants that make the Ford Fiesta, Fusion, Mustang, Transit and Focus, as well as the the Lincoln MKZ, all of which have had sales declines through the first eight months of 2017. The Lincoln Continental, produced at Flat Rock, went on sale last fall.

“We are continuing to match production with customer demand, as we always do, and we are on track for our dealer inventories to remain at planned levels by year-end,” spokeswoman Kelli Felker said in an emailed statement.

ithibodeau@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @Ian_Thibodeau