Ford Puts Electric F-150 Lightning on Ice in favour of ICEs

Ford's electric turn in the pickup segment is proving less profitable than the automaker had hoped. Ford executives have just announced the “indefinite suspension” of the Ford F-150 Lightning's assembly operations, in order to focus on producing more gasoline-powered trucks.

The return of the combustion engine
After the major fire that struck the Novelis aluminum plant, a key supplier for several manufacturers, Ford had to review its assembly procedures. The American automaker plans to add a third crew to its plant in Dearborn, Michigan. This additional workforce, made up of 1,200 new employees and internal transfers, will allow for the production of over 45,000 additional F-150s in 2026, in gasoline and hybrid versions.

And this comes at the expense of the all-electric pickup in Ford’s lineup. Production of the F-150 Lightning is being suspended, indefinitely. Ford rationale for the move is two-fold: combustion-engine and hybrid models generate more profit, for one. But they also require less aluminum, a material in short supply since the Novelis disaster. Ford estimates that incident will cost it nearly $1 billion USD by 2026.

Major reorganization
Employees at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn that produces the Lightning will be redeployed to production of ICE versions of the pickup. In parallel, Ford is investing $60 million USD in its Kentucky complex to speed up the production rate of the Super Duty. Once the modernization is complete, the line will be able to assemble about one more truck per hour, which represents more than 5,000 additional units per year.

In total, the addition of labour and the logistical reorganization are expected to generate some 1,000 new jobs and increase the annual production capacity of the F-Series—the best-selling vehicle line in North America for decades—by more than 50,000 units.

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