Supply Chain Research

Ford Motor will close a factory in Brazil and exit heavy truck manufacturing in the region. While Brazilian heavy truck production has been recovering recently a 12.6% drop in exports in 2018 compared to 2017 and 53.0% slump year over year in January suggests regional demand may be weak. Ford’s exports from Brazil have been in decline for some time, with heavy truck shipments down 44.7% in 2018 compared to 2015 despite a small recovery at the end of 2018.