Situation Steadily Improves: Ford Super Duty Production Is Rebounding

The situation is gradually stabilizing: production of Ford’s flagship heavy-duty Super Duty trucks has begun to ramp up quickly.

After a series of serious fires at a Novelis plant — one of the key suppliers of aluminum sheet for automakers — production of several Ford models took a noticeable hit. But the outlook is improving. Super Duty output has surged, with 23,676 units built in November, marking a 4.5% increase.

The picture looks very different for another popular Ford model, the F-150. Its production has dropped sharply — down 30% to just 21,069 trucks. The reason is clear: a shortage of high-grade aluminum needed for body panels and structural components, caused by the disruptions at Novelis.

Ford has officially acknowledged the challenges brought on by the material shortage but says production will begin to recover once the Novelis plant is fully back online. Still, analysts warn that aluminum supplies will remain tight during the first months of next year, temporarily limiting the company’s ability to restore production volumes across all models.