Ford will pause manufacturing of its F-150 Lightning electrical pickup truck from Nov. 18 to Jan. 6, stories Reuters.
“We proceed to regulate manufacturing for an optimum mixture of gross sales progress and profitability,” the automaker stated in an announcement to Reuters concerning the six-week manufacturing pause, which overlaps with every week in December when all Ford factories are closed for the vacations.
2022 Ford F-150 Lightning pre-production
Ford stated this month that U.S. EV gross sales for its namesake model have been up 45% this yr, and that Lightning gross sales had greater than doubled to 7,100 vehicles within the three months ending Sept. 30, Reuters famous, including that this implies the Lightning makes up a tiny 3.6% of whole F-150 gross sales.
The manufacturing pause comes after Ford in April minimize manufacturing to only one shift. The automaker additionally slowed manufacturing in 2023 fairly than additional decreasing costs as demand for pricier Lightning variants dried up. Ford initially promised that the Lightning would price round $40,000 however, even with a number of value cuts, costs remained a lot larger than that all through 2023.
2022 Ford F-150 Lightning pre-production
Costs continued to fluctuate into 2024, with Ford chopping the sticker value of sure variations by as much as $5,500 this previous April—the identical month as the newest manufacturing minimize. These modifications solely affected fashions in the course of the lineup, with costs for each the bottom F-150 Lightning Professional Normal Vary and the range-topping Platinum Prolonged Vary unchanged.
Ford has been resetting its EV plans. In August, the automaker stated it was nixing a three-row electrical SUV, including an electrical midsize pickup, and pushing again the launch of the Lightning’s alternative from 2025 to 2027. Extra hybrids are additionally a part of this plan, notably in greater segments the place battery prices may make all-electric fashions much less worthwhile.
