By John 
Ford’s cash cow, the F-150 pickup, might be stuck in park after a blaze tore through a crucial aluminum supplier’s facility.
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Fire ripped through Novelis’ Oswego plant last week, raging for almost a full day and turning the place to rubble. Miraculously, nobody got hurt, but the factory—a major hub for high-grade automotive aluminum—lies in ashes. A whopping 36% of the U.S. auto industry’s aluminum supply flows from there, with Ford leaning hard on it for its prized F-150.
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Whispers from inside Ford suggest workers at the Dearborn plant might be twiddling their thumbs as early as next week if backups aren’t lined up fast. The F-150’s entire body depends on this stuff, and right now, the cupboard’s looking bare.
This isn’t just a hiccup—it’s a financial gut punch. Industry watcher Jan Griffiths spelled it out bluntly: Ford could bleed anywhere between half a billion and a full billion bucks. The real headache? Scrambling to replace the supply. Domestic production’s already squeezed dry, and importing comes with a brutal 50% price hike, thanks to tariffs.
The whole mess lays bare how razor-thin supply chains have gotten, especially in auto manufacturing, where a handful of factories hold the keys to essential materials.
Novelis hasn’t dropped a clear rebuilding timeline yet, but word on the street says the plant might not be back until 2026. For Ford and its folks, that’s a whole lot of sleepless nights figuring out how to keep their golden goose alive.
Source
Eve 
Shawn Henry