Ford Motor Co will reportedly cut production of its F-150 Lightning electric ute by 50 per cent, citing “changing market demand.”
Automotive News reports Ford told suppliers it plans to reduce production from 3200 units a week to an average of 1600 per week.
The news outlet reports the Rouge Electric Vehicle Centre in Dearborn, Michigan will reduce production numbers in January 2024.
Earlier this year, Automotive News reported Ford temporarily idled one of three shifts at its Lightning plant which affected 700 workers.
Late last year Ford added a third shift to increase production to 150,000 units by March 2023.
“The reality is clear… People are ready for an all-electric F-150, and Ford is pulling out all the stops to scale our operations and increase production capacity,” said Kumar Galhotra, now Ford chief operations officer, in January 2022.
In October 2023 though, Ford delayed around US$12 billion ($19 billion) in electric car investment due to reduced demand.
While Ford still believes in electric car production, John Lawler admitted in Ford’s third-quarter earnings call, “it’s just growing at a slower pace than the industry and, quite frankly, we expected”.
Automotive News reports Ford sold 4393 examples of its Lightning ute in November, which is a monthly record.
The news outlet reports the brand’s CEO Jim Farley claims sales have jumped 54 per cent thus far this year for the flagship electric ute.
MORE: Everything Ford F-150
MORE: 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning review
