In the wake of a factory fire at one of Ford’s biggest aluminum suppliers, the automaker has decided to stop producing its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck. At least for now. As it begins to ramp up its truck production following the fire at a Novelis aluminum plant on September 16, Ford will instead boost the number of gas-powered and hybrid F-150 models it builds to make up for the lost production. These versions of the popular truck use less aluminum and are more profitable, according to Ford.
Fortunately, all the hourly workers at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center where the F-150 Lightning is built will be transferred to a new third crew at the Dearborn Truck Plant next door. That crew, comprised of an extra 1,200 employees, will work on building an additional 45,000 gas and hybrid F-150 trucks before the end of the year. The Kentucky Truck Plant that builds the Super Duty will also add 100 employees to build an extra 5,000 units this year. Ford’s goal with all this clear: make up as much of the lost production as it can using the least amount of aluminum while making the most amount of money.
Don’t Worry: The F-150 Lightning, And More, Will Be Back
Ford did not say when it expects to resume production of the F-150 Lightning, but it probably won’t be before the end of 2025. Novelis has said it won’t be able to start supplying aluminum again until December at the earliest. Fortunately, Ford says it has “good inventories” of the F-150 Lightning for now, so if you want to buy a new one, there are plenty available.
Ford also can’t be faulted for sacrificing its electric truck in the short term. While it’s true the F-150 Lightning is the best-selling electric truck on the market, its sales are minuscule compared to gas F-150s. Over 207,000 gas-powered F-Series trucks were sold in Q3, compared to just 10,005 units of the electric Lightning.
During the company’s latest earnings call, Ford CEO Jim Farley made sure to mention all the ways in which it’s still committed to EVs going forward. This includes continuing development of its Universal EV platform that will spawn a $30,000 electric truck, adding more range-extended electric vehicles and traditional hybrids, and beginning production of new low-cost LFP battery cells. Farley said, “In the near term, I believe EV adoption will now only be about 5 percent of the U.S. market, but this is going to grow, especially for affordable EV vehicles.”
TopSpeed’s Take
Sales of electric pickup trucks are not what any automaker expected. Tesla expected to be making 250,000 to 500,000 units of the Cybertruck annually, but instead finds itself in second place to the F-150 Lightning that sold 33,510 units last year. The market just doesn’t want much of any company’s electric truck, regardless of how good it might be.
We hope Ford doesn’t use this production pause for the F-150 Lightning as a segue into canceling the truck altogether. That’s unlikely, considering the sizable investment it has made in the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center where it’s assembled and the goodwill the truck has amassed as the most popular EV with a bed.
And yet, Farley made it clear that the future of Ford’s electric strategy is affordable EVs, which is being spearheaded by a $30,000 electric truck built on its new Universal EV platform. One wonders if there’s a future for the F-150 Lightning beside a vehicle like that.
Source: TechCrunch
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