Ford Motor Co. will keep production of its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck on hold for at least another week until Feb. 24, the automaker’s spokeswoman told the Free Press on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the company confirmed it was in the second week of shutdown so engineers could identify and fix a problem with the vehicles’ batteries. Ford has stopped production and stopped shipping to dealers.
However, the company has not ordered dealers to stop selling the vehicle.
“We are suspending production at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center through at least the end of next week,” Ford spokeswoman Emma Bergg said. “During a standard Lightning pre-delivery quality inspection, one vehicle displayed a battery issue. We believe we have identified the root cause of this issue. By the end of next week, we expect to conclude our investigation and apply what we learn to the truck’s battery production process; this could take a few weeks. We will continue holding already-produced vehicles while we work through engineering and process updates.”
She added, “We are not aware of any incidents of this issue in the field and do not believe F-150 Lightnings already in customers’ hands are affected by this issue.”
Stopping production is exceptionally expensive for any automaker, but it’s more important for companies to avoid producing vehicles that require recall or warranty fixes, which have drained billions of dollars from Ford’s financials in recent years.
Ford CEO Jim Farley has said quality control is a top priority.
This confirmation of a major factory disruption comes after Farley and Executive Chair Bill Ford announced the company’s plan for a new $3.5 billion battery plant in Marshall.
Ford declined to say how many Lightning trucks are built a day or a week, saying the company does not release detailed production numbers. The company couldn’t immediately say what’s happening with UAW employees whose working hours are limited for reasons beyond their control.
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Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid