DETROIT – Ford Motor is increasing production of its Bronco SUV and Ranger pickup, while cutting production of its all-electric F-150 Lightning, the automaker said Friday.
Ford said the production changes are intended to match production with customer demand. They mark the newest cuts or delays to production of EVs amid slower-than-expected customer demand.
“We’re making the most of our manufacturing flexibility to supply customers decisions while balancing our growth and profitability. Customers love the F-150 Lightning, America’s best-selling EV pickup,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a release. “We see a brilliant future for electric vehicles for specific consumers, especially with our upcoming digitally advanced EVs and access to Tesla’s charging network starting this quarter.”
The announced cut to F-150 Lightning production comes a month after CNBC and other media outlets reported Ford would slash planned production of the pickup roughly in half this yr, marking a serious reversal after the automaker significantly increased plant capability for the electrical vehicle in 2023.
The automaker will probably be reducing production of the Lightning at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan to 1 production shift from two, impacting roughly 1,400 employees. The reduction takes effect April 1.
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Ford declined to specify how the eliminated production shift will impact output of the vehicles.
Ford said roughly half of the affected employees will transfer to nearby plants, including the Michigan Assembly Plant that produces the Bronco and Ranger. Others are expected to take part in a “Special Retirement Incentive Program” agreed to within the 2023 Ford-United Auto Employees contract, the corporate said.
The Michigan Assembly Plant will add a 3rd shift this summer to extend production of the Bronco and Ranger, in keeping with Ford. The corporate plans so as to add 900 jobs at that plant.
Sales of the F-150 Lightning were up 55% last yr to greater than 24,000 pickups. Nonetheless, vehicles haven’t been selling as quickly they were previously. Ford said it expects “further growth” in sales for the vehicle in 2024, but reportedly not as much because the 150,000 production rate it accounted for when it up-fitted the plant last yr.
Sales of the Bronco and Ranger were each down 9.7% and 43.3% last yr, respectively. The plant that produces the vehicles was heavily impacted by a six-week UAW labor strike.
Bronco SUVs in production at Ford’s Michigan Assembly plant, June 14, 2021.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
