In the market for a new Ford Explorer that lacks comprehensive rear heating and air conditioning controls? Feel free to head on down to your local dealer soon, as the automaker has come up with the less-than-ideal plan of selling and shipping some Explorer models without the required chips due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage. Ford expects to get these chips within one year, after which customers can drive back to the dealership for a post-purchase upgrade. And you thought having to send back that audio receiver for an HDMI 2.1 upgrade board was lame.
Ford to ship and sell Explorer SUVs with missing chips (The Verge)
- Ford spokesperson Said Deep told The Verge that heating and air condition will still be controllable from the front seats, and that customers who choose to purchase a vehicle without the rear controls will receive a price reduction. According to Deep, Ford is doing this as a way to bring new Explorers to customers faster, and that the change is only temporary.
- As pointed out by Automotive News, Ford’s decision comes as an attempt to move the partially-built vehicles crowding its factory lots. Last month, hundreds of new Ford Broncos were spotted sitting idly in the snow-covered lots near Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant, all of which await chip-related installations.
- Other automakers have also had to make sacrifices due to the chip shortage, with GM dropping wireless charging, HD radios, and a fuel management module that made some pickup trucks operate more efficiently. Meanwhile, Tesla sold some cars without USB ports and made them installable at a later date.