Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it will keep production of the F-150 Lightning down through at least the end of next week as it continues to probe a battery issue with the popular electric pickup.
The update came a day after the Dearborn automaker confirmed it had halted production and stopped shipments of the vehicle over an unidentified battery problem. The F-150 Lightning is built at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn.
Production at the plant will remain down while the company wraps up an investigation “and (applies) what we learn to the truck’s battery production process,” spokesperson Emma Bergg said in a statement Wednesday. Ford said it identified the issue on a Lightning unit during a standard pre-delivery quality inspection. The company believes it has identified the cause.
In all, the process could take a “few” weeks, the company said. Ford will continue holding Lightning units that have been assembled but not yet delivered to dealers.
The company said it’s not aware of any other instances of the battery issue, nor does it believe that any vehicles that have been delivered to customers are affected.
Ramping up production of the Lightning is key to Ford’s goal of boosting electric-vehicle capacity to 600,000 units annually by the end of this year and 2 million units annually by the end of 2023. The automaker aims to boost Lightning production to 150,000 units annually by this year.
Meanwhile, the automaker’s Louisville Assembly Plant reportedly is down this week due to a quality issue on the Ford Escape. According to local media citing a temporary layoff notice, the plant is down through Feb. 19 while Ford sorts out production issues with the refreshed 2023 Escape.
In response to an inquiry about the downtime at LAP, Ford spokesperson Kelli Felker said in a statement: “We are committed to ensuring our vehicles are built with the quality our customers deserve and will take the appropriate actions to deliver this commitment.”
Quality has been a nagging and costly issue for the Dearborn automaker, and executives have identified it as a key area of focus as they look to cut costs. Ford was No. 1 in recalls in the U.S. for the last two years, executives have said, and the automaker is eyeing a $1 billion reduction in warranty costs.
jgrzelewski@detroitnews.com
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