- Ford has said it will cut production of the F-150 Lightning in half next year
- It comes as the company sold a record number of units in November: 4,393
- Even with the lowered target, it will still earn almost 7,000 per month in 2024
Ford is cutting production of its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup in half due to declining demand for electric vehicles.
The companies Michigan The factory will produce 1,600 units per week from January – half its capacity of 3,200 units. The price of the truck was reduced approximately $10,000 in the summer and can now be purchased for between $50,000 and just under $100,000.
The decision to limit production – revealed in a memo to dealers seen by Automotive News – despite Ford claiming the Lightning is selling faster than ever before.
CEO Jim Farley said earlier this month that the company sold 4,393 units in November, a single-month record. That's also more than was sold in the entire third quarter, according to company documentation.
Ford has only sold 20,365 Lightnings so far in 2023, but that's still up from 13,258 in 2022.
Ford will cut production of the F-150 Lightning in half from 3,200 per week to 1,600 next year, according to a recent memo shared with dealers and seen by Automotive News
Ford CEO Jim Farley, pictured at the 2022 F-150 Lightning launch, said earlier this month that 4,393 units were sold in November, a single-month record
Based on 1,600 units per week, DailyMail.com's analysis shows the company will still produce around 6,950 trucks per month – well above even current record sales.
Ford may be heeding the widely held theory about electric vehicle sales: that they will drop once the few people who want them buy them.
The automaker's memo to dealers indicated that the revised target was driven by “changing market demand.”
“There are early adopters, and the early adopters have taken over,” Joe McCabe, president and CEO of automotive consultancy AutoForecast Solutions, recently told DailyMail.com.
Several car manufacturers announced in the second half of the year that they want to reduce spending on EV projects.
Ford has only sold 20,365 Lightnings so far in 2023, but that's still up from 13,258 in 2022. Pictured is the production line at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan.
An exterior view of the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center where the automaker produces the F-150 Lightning
Partly thanks to billions in subsidies from President Biden, car manufacturers launched ambitious projects to conquer the market. Recently, poor sales of electric vehicles despite these subsidies have forced automakers to reconsider.
Ford isn't the only automaker having trouble meeting electric vehicle sales targets.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Tesla is cutting the price of some of its best-selling vehicles in a last-minute effort to boost sales before the end of the year.
When asked about the specific number of F-150 Lightnings Ford planned to make next year, a company spokesperson declined to comment, but did say it was “continuing to tailor production to customer demand.”