Ford will reduce production of its all-electric pickup truck in 2024 in an effort to meet consumer demand, the automaker confirmed to TechCrunch.
Ford executives signaled in October during their third-quarter earnings call plans to “tighten” production of its all-electric vehicles and delay about $12 billion in investments due to lower demand for higher-priced premium electric vehicles. .
The automaker did not explicitly refer to the Lightning during the earnings call, instead pointing to other examples, such as reducing production of the Mustang Mach-E and the decision to delay a second battery factory in Kentucky.
A note to suppliers, which was seen and first reported by Automotive News, indicated plans starting in January to produce an average of about 1,600 Lightning trucks per week at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford had anticipated an annual production capacity of 150,000 Lightnings a year, or about 3,200 a week. That means its 2024 production target has been cut in half.
A Ford spokesperson confirmed the change in its production targets to TechCrunch, stating that the company will “continue to tailor Lightning production to customer demand.”
The move is a reversal from January 2022, when Ford, riding the 200,000 reservations it had received for the truck, announced it would nearly double production capacity to 150,000 vehicles a year by mid-2023 in response to customer demand. . The company idled the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan in early 2023 to implement upgrades at the plant to accommodate that new production capacity.
Even as those improvements were being made, demand for electric vehicles was weakening across the industry. Electric vehicle sales in the United States continue to grow and are on track to surpass one million vehicles this year, an increase of 50% year over year. Still, that growth has not matched the ambitious plans of major automakers, causing many to reduce investments, delay factory upgrades or new construction and reduce production capacity.
