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Update 6:30 p.m. EST: Added comment from Ford
Ford plans to cut production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck in half starting next year, Automotive News reported on Monday, citing a memo from Ford to suppliers that it obtained.
The carmaker told suppliers it plans to crank out roughly 1,600 of the trucks per week at its Dearborn, Michigan assembly plant in 2024, Automotive News reported. Ford had previously planned to make around 3,200 Lightning trucks each week, according to the outlet.
A Ford spokesperson told InsideEVs the company “will continue to match Lightning production to customer demand.”
Automakers—particularly Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen—have announced major cutbacks to their capital-intensive electrification plans in recent months, pointing to weakening demand for their electric cars. This is just the latest development. According to Automotive News, Ford told suppliers the move was due to “changing market demand.”
It’s important to note that, overall, the electric car market is healthy. Just look at the over one million EVs Americans snapped up so far this year, a new annual record. Rather, it appears that EV sales growth isn’t as strong as automakers had predicted, pushing them to scale back their plans.
Ford had spent the years since the F-150 Lightning’s debut trying its best to accelerate production. Earlier in 2023, the company boosted production capacity to 150,000 units per year. Now it appears that Ford thinks it can’t find buyers for that many trucks.
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