Ford will cut weekly production of F-150 Lightning in response to slowing demand

Ford told its dealers that it was reducing weekly production of its F-150 Lightning pickup truck next year in response to slowing customer demand, Automotive News reports.

According to a memo viewed by the outlet, Ford told its dealers to prepare for an average production volume of 1,600 electric trucks from its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, starting next year. The company currently churns 3,200 trucks out of that factory each week.

Emma Bergg, a spokesperson for Ford, declined to comment on the numbers published in the report. “We will continue to match Lightning production to customer demand,” she said in an email.

EV sales are continuing to trend upward, but not as quickly as some automakers had anticipated. As a result, several companies have pulled back on their ambitious construction plans, including Ford, which recently said it would delay $12 billion in investments. That includes pausing construction of one of its two planned battery plants in Kentucky and reducing production goals for another battery factory in Michigan.

Ford continues to lose money on its EVs, around $1.3 billion this past quarter in adjusted earnings. So far this year, Ford has lost $3.1 billion on its EV spending and has said it’s going to lose a total of $4 billion for the year.

But despite this, EV sales continue to grow. Ford sold 20,365 F-150 Lightning trucks so far in 2023, up from 13,258 in 2022 for a 53 percent increase. EVs accounted for a little under 8 percent of all US vehicle sales in the third quarter of 2023, according to Cox Automotive.

EV sales are hampered by high prices and a dearth of charging options. Ford has tried to address this with new releases like the F-150 Lightning Flash, a midpriced trim of its electric truck, and partnering with Tesla to adopt the company’s EV plug.