Japan quake forces Ford to ask dealers not to order black, red cars

2011 Ford F-150
2011 Ford F-150

Way back in the old days Henry Ford would tell Model T buyers, ‘you can have any color you like, so long as it’s black.’ However, today as Japanese suppliers struggle to come back from the disastrous earthquake and tsunami, FoMoCo is asking its dealers to order pickups and USVs in any color but black.

Ford has asked its dealers not to order any full-size pickup or SUV in Tuxedo Black because of a problem getting a paint ingredient from a supplier in Japan. Ford is also cutting back on its use of Tuxedo Black on mid-size SUVs and the Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKS.

Apparently the red color is also a problem, Ford is cutting back, but not stopping, three shades of red on SuperDuty F-Series pickups, Ranger, Focus, Econoline vans and the Lincoln Navigator.

Who’s this Japanese supplier? No idea, but they provide a patented substance called Xirallic, which is used to give the red and black paints a slight metallic glitter.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: CNNMoney