Ford Bronco, Mach-E Face Production Delays Due To Coronavirus Shutdown

The coronavirus pandemic has upended the automotive industry, forcing automakers to temporarily suspend production facilities as the virus raged. But current vehicles aren't the only ones the pandemic has affected – closing factories has prevented automakers from retooling in anticipation of building new products. After last week's report that Ford was pushing production of the next F-150 back, Bloomberg is now reporting that both the 2021 Mach-E and 2021 Bronco are facing COVID-related delays.

According to the report, Ford's head of product development, Hau Thai-Tang, made the news during a Bank of America analysts' conference, saying Ford won't "do any additional delay to these launches beyond the impact of Covid-19." He added that the primary motivator was saving the company cash during the crisis.

"Given our inability to work in the assembly plants during the shelter-in-place restrictions, it will have an impact to program timing, in terms of the launches," Thai-Tang said. "But we expect the launch delays to be commensurate with the duration of the shutdown period."

COVID-19's impact on the Bronco is well documented. Originally slated for debut in early April, well into the pandemic – that unlucky timing forced Ford to push back the unveiling to a later date. Ford confirmed to Motor1.com that Bronco will still hit dealers in 2021, although it didn't provide any additional info about production or when we'd even see the hotly anticipated SUV.

As for the all-electric Mustang Mach-E, our most recent info on production came from Motor1.com's sister site, InsideEVs, which cited an on-sale date some time in November 2020 (although it's worth noting that came from the Norwegian market). According to spokesperson Emma Bergg, Ford "expects to deliver the all-new Mustang Mach-E to U.S. customers late this year."

Ford is planning to resume work at its North American facilities on May 18, although as Bloomberg reports, it's still facing a staggering $5-billion quarterly loss, in large part due to coronavirus' impact on new vehicle sales.