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Ford will stop production of the F-150 Lightning for almost two months

Ford will stop production of the F-150 Lightning for almost two months

Ford stops F-150 Lightning production in mid-November as the once best-selling electric pickup truck faces a wave of new competition. The company will halt model production at its Rouge EV facility in Michigan for nearly two months.

Ford will halt production at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center amid “slower-than-expected” demand for its all-electric pickup truck.

The pause comes after Ford reduce the workforce at the plant by one-third earlier this year. No job cuts were included as employees were either redeployed or offered to retire.

As of April, 700 of the 2,100 workers were transferred to the Michigan assembly plant, and another 700 received a retirement package or the opportunity to join others to help build the Bronco and Ranger in Michigan.

Ford spokesman Martin Hansberg confirmed Electr at the beginning of this year, the enterprise had three teams working in two shifts, and in April their number was reduced to one team.

The Dearborn-based automaker is now preparing to halt production at its Rouge EV plant for several weeks.

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Production of Ford Lightning (Source: Ford)

Ford plans to stop production of the F-150 Lightning in Michigan

This was stated by Ford representative Jessica Enoch in an e-mail to Electr“We continue to adjust production for the optimal combination of sales growth and profitability.”

The break will begin after business hours on November 15. However, since the plant only operates on weekdays, November 15-16 would not be production days.

Enoch confirmed that the first day of downtime will be November 18, with production resuming on January 6, 2025. The break includes a week off beginning Dec. 23 at all Ford plants in the United States.

The latest hurdle for Ford comes after it was overtaken by cross-town rival GM in US electric car sales last quarter.

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Ford F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E on Tesla Supercharger (Source: Ford)

With a record 32,095 EV sold in the 3rd quarterGM outpaced Ford, which sold 23,509 electric models. In the first nine months, GM is ahead of the US, selling 70,450 electric vehicles, compared to Ford’s 67,689.

Ford’s electric pickup truck is facing a new wave of competition: Tesla’s Cybertruck, Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV.

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Ford Mustang Mach-E (left) and F-150 Lightning (right) (Source: Ford)

According to Cox AutomotiveTesla’s Cybertruck was the third best-selling electric vehicle in the US in the third quarter with 16,692 models sold. By comparison, Ford sold 7,162 F-150 Lightnings last quarter.

With the new low-cost Chevy Silverado EV LT now available and the GMC Sierra EV, it will be interesting to see where the rankings go next year.

With the new “power promise”, Ford offers electric car buyers free level 2 home charger and covering the cost of a standard installation. The company said the new program is designed to help show customers the true benefits of driving an electric car, such as waking up with a full charge every morning.

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Although Ford exceeded the income for the 3rd quarter and the company’s Model e EV unit reported another loss of $1.2 billion last quarter, according to EPS estimates earlier this week.

Ford’s electric car business lost $3.7 billion in the first nine months of the year. The company said the 11% drop in volumes was due to “competitive market dynamics”. Lower volume and “industry-wide pricing pressure” led to a 33% year-over-year drop in revenue to $1.2 billion.

CEO Jim Farley said the company had taken “aggressive steps” to build an edge in future areas, including next-generation electric vehicles and software.

Speaking about the company’s earnings, Farley said its new mid-size electric pickup truckdue out in the second half of 2027, “will match the construction cost structure of Chinese OEMS in Mexico.” These comments were likely aimed at BYD, which launched its first pickup truck, the Shark PHEVwhich will compete with the Ford Ranger.

Ford will begin manufacturing LFP batteries in Michigan in 2026, which should help the company cut costs.

According to Farley, Ford’s “skunkworks” team in California has “overloaded” the company’s new low-cost platform as it looks to regain leadership.

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