Ford Motor Co. is working to get dealers and customers their Ford Explorers sooner by shipping some units without rear seat controls for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning, a company spokesperson told the Detroit Free Press on Saturday.
The driver will still be able to control the system from the front seat, Ford said.
The number of vehicles affected could not be immediately confirmed but include both presold and dealer inventory stock, spokesperson Said Deep said.
The Explorer’s rear seat heating and air conditioning control, both the physical dial system and the semiconductor chip behind it, will be installed by Ford dealers at a later date, Deep said.
The spot in the car where the control would normally go will instead have a finished matching plate.
Customers will get a price reduction if taking ownership of a vehicle without the feature. The detail of how much has not been confirmed, Deep said.
News of a plan to ship additional Ford vehicles without chips was disclosed by Andrew Frick, Ford vice president of sales in the U.S. and Canada, during a meeting at the annual National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA) Show in Las Vegas on Saturday. Automotive News first reported news of the meeting.
Click here to read the full story from Phoebe Wall Howard at the Detroit Free Press.