Ford Stops F-150 Lightning Production
Ford has announced a production pause for its F-150 Lightning electric pickup.
The Lightning’s assembly plant in Dearborn, Michigan, will shut down starting November 15 and running through to the new year. The latter part of the shutdown coincides with the typical holiday break—still, this is the second time Ford has halted all-electric truck production this year.
Earlier in the year, Ford paused Lightning production for nine weeks due to a quality issue that required a stop-sale order.
According to Automotive News, the latest pause comes as Ford adjusts production in response to what it describes as “an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability.” You can read that as cratering demand and oversupply at the dealer level. This decision follows a series of setbacks for Lightning, including a March workforce reduction at the plant and a plan to revise production targets in order to redirect resources to other models like the Bronco and Ranger.
Despite these adjustments, Ford has moved 22,807 Lightnings in 2024, which, while up 86% from last year is still less than half the 58,736 "regular" F-150s Ford moved in September alone.
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An experienced automotive storyteller and accomplished photographer known for engaging and insightful content. Michael also brings a wealth of technical knowledge—he was part of the Ford GT program at Multimatic, oversaw a fleet of Audi TCR race cars, ziptied Lamborghini Super Trofeo cars back together, been over the wall during the Rolex 24, and worked in the cut-throat world of IndyCar.
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Was it 2023 when Ford's CEO was bragging that Ford would be capable of building 500,000 Lightnings annually and was excited about phasing out ICE F-150s? Yeah, I think it was. How does this fool still have a job?