Ford plans to cut production of all-electric pickup trucks in 2024 to meet consumer demand.
Ford executives said in October on a third-quarter earnings call that they plan to “adjust” all-electric vehicle production and defer about $12 billion in investments as demand for higher-priced premium electric vehicles slows. suggested.
The automaker did not explicitly mention the Lightning in its earnings call, instead pointing to other examples such as production cuts for the Mustang Mach-E and the decision to postpone a second battery plant in Kentucky.
Note to supplier. viewed, First reported by Automotive Newsplans to produce an average of about 1,600 Lightning trucks per week starting in January at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford had planned annual production capacity for the Lightning at 150,000 units per year, or approximately 3,200 units per week. This means that the production target for 2024 will be halved.
A Ford spokeswoman did not confirm the memo. A spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that the company “continues to align Lightning production with customer demand.”
The move is a reversal from January 2022, when Ford was elated with 200,000 truck reservations and announced it would nearly double production capacity to 150,000 a year by mid-2023 in response to customer demand. be. The company idled its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan in early 2023 to perform factory upgrades to accommodate new production capacity.
Despite these improvements, demand for EVs was softening across the industry. EV sales in the U.S. continue to grow, at a pace of over 1 million units per year, a 50% increase over the previous year. Still, that growth has lagged behind the ambitious plans of major automakers, causing many to curb investment, delay factory upgrades and new construction, and cut production capacity.
Source: techcrunch.com
