Back in April, Ford Motor Company ramped up production for its famous electric truck, bumping production output to satisfy the company’s overwhelming demand for the product. However, the boost in production was short-lived as the company announced plans to cut its Ford F-150 Lighting output in half for the 2024 model year.
Ford F-150 Production Cut: Details
Automotive News reports that the automaker recently told suppliers that it plans on producing around 1,600 Ford F-150 Lightnings per week at its Dearborn, Michigan assembly plant in 2024. Previously, that number was intended to be about 3,200. This comes at the same time that General Motors and even Volkswagen have recently announced significant cutbacks to their electric vehicle production. This is believed to be due to a weakening demand for electric vehicles. Ford even told suppliers that the switch was due to “changing market demand.”
Don’t let this fool you, however. The electric car market is still very healthy. The issue is that the EV sales growth isn’t as strong as automakers initially predicted, forcing them to scale back their plans for now. As we mentioned earlier, Ford has spent considerable time since the F-150 Lightning first launched working to accelerate production for the vehicle. Earlier this year, the company bumped its capacity to 150,000 units annually. However, the demand just isn’t as high as anticipated, which is why things are being scaled back for now.
That decrease in demand is likely thanks to the frequent price hikes Ford has done for the full-size electric pickup. In mid-2021, when Ford first debuted the F-150 Lightning for the 2022 model year, the Blue Oval advertised that the base Pro model would start at $41,769, including the destination charge. That’s a good deal for an electric vehicle, especially with the help of tax incentives. Now, the starting price for the Lightning is $52,490, including the $1,995 destination charge, which greatly impacts the affordability of these vehicles.
Image via Ford.
