Ford Motor Co will reportedly reduce manufacturing of its F-150 Lightning electrical ute by 50 per cent, citing “altering market demand.”
Automotive Information studies Ford instructed suppliers it plans to cut back manufacturing from 3200 items per week to a mean of 1600 per week.
The information outlet studies the Rouge Electrical Automobile Centre in Dearborn, Michigan will cut back manufacturing numbers in January 2024.
Earlier this 12 months, Automotive Information reported Ford quickly idled one in every of three shifts at its Lightning plant which affected 700 employees.
Late final 12 months Ford added a 3rd shift to extend manufacturing to 150,000 items by March 2023.
“The truth is evident… Individuals are prepared for an all-electric F-150, and Ford is pulling out all of the stops to scale our operations and enhance manufacturing capability,” stated Kumar Galhotra, now Ford chief operations officer, in January 2022.
In October 2023 although, Ford delayed round US$12 billion ($19 billion) in electrical automobile funding because of lowered demand.
Whereas Ford nonetheless believes in electrical automobile manufacturing, John Lawler admitted in Ford’s third-quarter earnings name, “it’s simply rising at a slower tempo than the business and, fairly frankly, we anticipated”.
Automotive Information studies Ford bought 4393 examples of its Lightning ute in November, which is a month-to-month document.
The information outlet studies the model’s CEO Jim Farley claims gross sales have jumped 54 per cent so far this 12 months for the flagship electrical ute.
MORE: Every little thing Ford F-150MORE: 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning overview