Production of the Ford F-150 Lightning will reportedly be shut down for six weeks, representing the final bump in the road for the once highly anticipated electric pickup.
As reported by Reutersthe F-150 Lightning production line will be offline from November 18, 2024 to January 6, 2025, a six-week period with a holiday week in December, when it was originally scheduled to be paused.
A Ford spokesperson told the publication: “we continue to adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability.”
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While sales of the F-150 Lightning doubled between July and September compared to the same three months last year, the 7,100 units sold in the US represented less than four percent of all F-Series deliveries during that time.
The production pause is the latest problem for the F-150 Lightning, which when released in 2022 was expected to drive a significant boom in electric vehicle (EV) adoption and provide battery power in North America’s most popular new vehicle.
After launching as the second electric pickup in the US – shortly after the Rivian R1T – Ford quickly increased its production plans for the F-150 Lightning following strong demand after first deliveries in 2022.
However, buyers soon began to turn away from the pickup, resulting in several successive cuts to the production plan to ensure the oversupply was reduced.
In January, it was announced that the Ford F-150 Lightning production facility will operate just one shift per day, down from a peak of three shifts when demand was highest.
Deliveries were halted in February due to an unspecified quality issue, which was followed in April by a reduction in production to one shift of three.
Ford’s production pause also comes shortly after it announced it would delay the launch of the F-150 Lightning’s successor until the second half of 2027, well behind its planned 2025 debut.
In August, Ford said this would better position the company to take advantage of cheaper battery technology “and take advantage of other cost breakthroughs as the market continues to evolve.”
It also scrapped plans to develop a three-row electric SUV and instead focused on introducing more hybrid powertrains to the segment.
Hybrids have increasingly become a focus for Ford in the US, with the brand’s latest update to the petrol-powered F-150 offering its 3.5-litre V6 engine with the option of hybrid assistance at no extra cost.
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