Ford is decreasing deliberate manufacturing volumes of the F-150 Lightning electrical pickup truck by half subsequent yr, Automotive Information reported Monday, citing a memo addressed to suppliers.
In line with the memo, Ford has advised suppliers to arrange for common quantity of round 1,600 Lightnings per week on the Rouge Electrical Automobile Heart in Dearborn, Michigan, beginning in January. Ford beforehand mentioned quantity of three,200 vehicles per week and an annual goal of 150,000 vehicles, Automotive Information famous.
The memo said “altering market demand” as the rationale. Ford has declined to remark relating to this report.
![Pre-production Ford F-150 Lightning - Rouge Electric Vehicle Center Pre-production Ford F-150 Lightning - Rouge Electric Vehicle Center](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/pre-production-ford-f-150-lightning--rouge-electric-vehicle-center_100807049_l.jpg)
Pre-production Ford F-150 Lightning – Rouge Electrical Automobile Heart
Nonetheless, this can be a sign that Ford has merely reached the utmost for high-sticker-price variations of its F-150 Lightning—as the corporate ramped up costs after which lowered them solely considerably this previous summer season.
Costs on the Lightning stay far greater than Ford promised at launch, simply 18 months in the past. The summer season worth lower introduced the bottom worth all the way down to $51,990, however Ford initially stated the least-expensive variations of the Lightning would price nearer to $40,000. It may in fact spur extra curiosity by reducing the worth.
The primary indicators of bother got here this summer season, when Ford lowered its 2023 EV manufacturing targets, pointing to price. In current months, Ford has paused (after which resumed at a lesser scale) its Michigan LFP battery manufacturing facility touted as the important thing for inexpensive EVs. It delayed one among two Kentucky battery vegetation that had been on account of provide next-generation EVs.
![Pre-production Ford F-150 Lightning - Rouge Electric Vehicle Center Pre-production Ford F-150 Lightning - Rouge Electric Vehicle Center](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/pre-production-ford-f-150-lightning--rouge-electric-vehicle-center_100807048_l.jpg)
Pre-production Ford F-150 Lightning – Rouge Electrical Automobile Heart
CEO Jim Farley urged final yr that he anticipated an EV worth warfare and trade consolidation. And earlier this yr he urged that EV worth parity with gasoline automobiles may not arrive till 2030.
Along with uncertainty round manufacturing prices and car costs, in addition to different electrical vehicles just like the Rivian R1T and even the Tesla Cybertruck stealing a little bit of the highlight, Ford’s hype over the F-150 Lightning’s substitute may also be an element. Farley has teased the corporate’s upcoming 2025 electrical pickup—which, not like the Lightning, will likely be primarily based on a devoted EV platform—because the “Millennium Falcon of vehicles.”