Ford Cuts Production for the F-150 Lightning in Half

For the past few weeks, there have been rumors about the EV demand slowdown, with Ford warning that it is imminent. The Dearborn-based carmaker is doing everything possible to reduce loss and is reportedly slashing the production of the F-150 Lightning.

The move, which is a major reversal, comes after Ford boosted production capacity to 150,000 units per year starting in 2023 at the company's Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. That is three times the original planned production capacity.

Ford is currently rolling out around 3,200 units per week at the Dearborn assembly plant. The numbers will be reduced in half, as the company is planning to cut 1,600 units of those produced, in 2024, according to a memo from Ford to suppliers cited by Automotive News. The reason for the decision would be the “changing market demand.”

The company is canceling or postponing the $12 billion investment in the development and production of EVs. Ford’s motivation does not necessarily have a corresponden e in reality. According to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Americans purchased one million EVs in 2023. It is a record-breaking figure.

Never before has the local car industry sold so many electric cars in a year. And 2023 is not over yet. Automakers, though, were expecting more, but high prices and poor infrastructures in some areas must have scared off customers.

There are currently around 2.4 million EVs registered in the United States, with more than one third of them (36 percent) being registered in California.

Automotive giants such as Ford, General Motors, and Volkswagen announced a slowdown on their electrification plans, in terms of financial investments.

Ford sold 20,365 F-150 Lightnings so far this year, up by 53 percent compared to last year’s 13,258 units. 4,400 units were sold in November, up by 113 percent, a record month, according to the company’s CEO, Jim Farley. The carmaker accounted for a little over 8 percent of all electric vehicles sold in the United States.

The Blue Oval electric lineup also includes the Mustang Mach-E and the E-Transit van. During the company’s 3Q call in November, Ford announced that the production of the Mustang Mach-E would also be slowed down. Furthermore, the second BlueOval SK JV battery plant in Kentucky is also under question right now.

Ford’s main competitors are Rivian’s R1T and Tesla’s Cybertruck. Tesla will ramp up production at the Giga factory in Austin, Texas, in 2024, to keep up with the reservations piling up since 2019. Meanwhile, Rivian did not announce any plans on slowing down production.