9 months ago
49 Ford Motor Company's electrical F-150 Lightning connected the accumulation enactment astatine their Rouge Electric Vehicle Center successful Dearborn, Michigan connected September 8, 2022.
Jeff Kowalsky | AFP | Getty Images
Ford Motor said Tuesday the mill that builds its electrical F-150 Lightning pickup has reopened aft a six-week interruption for upgrades — and that caller terms cuts connected the EV person led to a important summation successful demand.
Ford cut the Lightning's prices by arsenic overmuch arsenic $10,000, depending connected trim level, past month. The slightest costly mentation of the motortruck present starts astatine astir $50,000.
Those terms reductions spurred a sixfold summation successful caller orders for the Lightning, said Marin Gjaja, main lawsuit serviceman for Ford's "Model e" EV unit, successful a Tuesday property briefing.
While helium declined to supply circumstantial numbers, Gjaja did accidental that Ford present has "about 45 days' worth" of orders for the electrical truck.
More than fractional of caller orders for the Lightning are for trucks with the higher-priced XLT trim, which starts astatine astir $55,000 with 240 miles of EPA-estimated range, Gjaja said. Ford is modifying its accumulation premix to summation supplies of the Lightning XLT, helium said.
But caller accumulation downtime means Lightning transportation totals volition beryllium humble until September, helium said. Deliveries should ramp sharply erstwhile the upgraded mill hits its stride.
"We expect income volition commencement to importantly summation successful aboriginal September, and surely successful October arsenic proviso begins to rapidly ramp successful the second fractional of the year," Gjaja said.
Ford said Tuesday its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, the Lightning's mill successful Dearborn, Michigan, has resumed accumulation of the motortruck aft a planned shutdown to marque upgrades. The mill volition beryllium capable to nutrient Lightnings astatine an yearly complaint of 150,000 vehicles — 3 times its erstwhile output — by the extremity of September.
The mill has hired astir 1,200 caller employees to enactment the accumulation increase, according to Debbie Manzano, Ford's manufacturing director. Those caller employees volition implicit grooming successful astir 3 weeks, she said.
Ford is besides ramping up accumulation astatine the factories that proviso artillery packs and electrical motors for the Lightning, Manzano said.
