Production of Ford Motor fell 10% in Venezuela
The U.S. subsidiary of the assembly vehicle production declined to address the problems caused by government delays in delivery of currencies

June 12 2009 | 09:44 am - AP


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Ford Motor assembly | AP

The local subsidiary of the Ford Motor assembly U.S. fell 10% in vehicle production this year to tackle the problems caused by government delays in the delivery of foreign exchange needed to import parts, reported Thursday the company's chairman.


Gabriel Lopez, president of Ford Motor for Venezuela and the rest of the Andean region, said in an interview with The Associated Press that the Venezuelan automotive industry faces a "critical''because of delays by the State Commission for Administration of Foreign Exchange ( cadivi) in delivery of U.S. dollars needed to import parts.


The Chamber of Automotive Venezuela (Cavenez) announced last March that some car manufacturers may face the risk of paralysis due to the backlog of almost 200 days of the delivery of cadivi foreign exchange for imports of parts needed to assemble vehicles.


Lopez indicated that Ford Motor of Venezuela "is not going to put a stop''but noted that to address the lack of foreign exchange assembly has had to lower vehicle production this year.


"Year to year we about 10% behind what we produced last year,''he said.


According to figures from January to May Cavenez past Ford Motor de Venezuela, the second largest assembly of the country, produced 8600 units, representing a fall of 26.6% over the same period in 2008 when it produced 11,725 vehicles.


During the first five months of 2009 assemblers Chrysler, Iveco Venezuela, Ford Motor, Toyota, General Motors, Mack de Venezuela and Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC) produced 54,113 cars, which meant a decrease of 9.7% compared with the last year.


Lopez said that due to delays cadivi Ford Motor Venezuela has accumulated a debt "Millionaire''with its suppliers, but has not specified sums.


"An increase of our debt with suppliers abroad obviously has certain limits set by the corporation. We have succeeded in managing these limits in order to maintain the flow of material into the plant''he said.


When asked how long can Ford Motor of Venezuela withstand the lack of dollars, Lopez said: "It is a mystery because it depends on the flow of foreign exchange.''


Regarding the status of other subsidiaries of Ford Motor in the Andean region, Lopez said that in Colombia and Ecuador production has fallen 20% due to economic situations faced by individuals each of those countries.


He said that in the case of Ecuador the government imposed restrictions on imports have been falling vehicle production in that country.


Cadivi recently reported that during the first quarter 3027 allowed millions of dollars for imports, of which 753.17 million were for food, 589.47 million dollars for health, and 429.3 million dollars for the automotive sector.


According to analysts estimates the government has reduced by over 25% of the delivery of dollars to the imports before the fall of 50% of tickets for oil sales, which are the main source of revenue for the country. The government has maintained tight control six years of changes to curb capital flight.


As a result of arrears of cadivi assemblers have accumulated a debt to its suppliers in the order of 2000 million dollars.


One of the manufacturers affected by the lack of Venezuelan currency is that General Motors announced that the third week of June for three months paralyze its operations.