Ford Restarts Lightning Plant as Price Cuts Spark Demand
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Ford Motor Co. restarted production of the F-150 electric Lightning pickup truck as price cuts stoke higher demand from buyers.
Customers have had to wait on orders as Ford restocked vehicles after battery issues halted production at the plant this spring. It paused output for another six weeks this summer to retool the Dearborn, Mich., facility. The company expects F-150 Lightning sales to “significantly increase” in September and October as production ramps and it fills back orders, executives said Aug. 1.
“We are expanding capacity right now, we’re going to be filling that capacity, we’ll have to see how the market plays out,” said Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer for Ford’s model-e unit. “The demand is there. We now have the supply to match it.”
Ford has been slashing prices for the F-150 Lightning by as much as 17% to capture more share of the nascent U.S. EV market and fend off competition coming from Tesla Inc. and General Motors Co. Ford reiterated its plans to boost capacity to 150,000 trucks a year by the third quarter.
The price cuts have helped drive a sixfold increase in orders and threefold increase in web traffic, Ford said Aug. 1.
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