Ford is pausing production of its F-150 Lightning—the electric version of its best-selling F-150 truck—until early 2025. It’s another sign of how the automaker is trying to adjust to slowing EV demand.
The news comes a few months after Ford canceled a planned electric SUV in a move meant to help bolster its profits.
The F-150 Lightning became the best-selling electric truck after it debuted in 2022 (it has since been dethroned by the Tesla Cybertruck). But despite that early success, the company reported in early 2024 that it was losing money on every EV sold.
Now, Ford has announced that it will temporarily pause production at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Plant, the automaker’s EV assembly factory in Dearborn, Michigan, that makes the F-150 Lightning. That pause will begin once the November 15 plant shift ends, and production will resume January 6. (The plant only runs on weekdays, and all Ford plants have a holiday week beginning December 23.)
“We continue to adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability,” a Ford spokesperson said in a statement.
The F-150 Lightning’s steep price may be a barrier to some customers, especially as affordable Chinese EVs get more global attention. (Ford CEO Jim Farley has himself been test-driving a Xiaomi SU7, which retails for around $30,000.) In April 2024, Ford announced a price cut for the truck, cutting its extended-range Lightning Flash from $75,590 to $70,090. (Other versions have varying prices; the F-150 Lightning Platinum, for example, starts around $85,000, according to the Ford website, while XLT starts around $63,000.)
EV demand has been slower than expected throughout 2024, even for top sellers like Tesla. But in the second quarter of 2024, the U.S. share of electric and hybrid vehicle sales increased, though it was mostly driven by hybrid sales. When Ford announced it was nixing an all-electric three-row SUV in August, it also announced it would prioritize hybrid technologies for its next SUVs. Ford has continued to say it’s committed to electric and hybrid vehicles, and is still working on low-cost EVs as well.
Ford isn’t alone when it comes to the challenge of trying to get more of the market to adopt EVs, but some automakers have fared better. While Ford got into the EV business years ago (its Mustang Mach E went on sale in 2020), General Motors took a slower approach—and is now seeing sales of its battery-powered models begin to surge, The New York Times reported.
Ford reported this week that its EV division lost $1.2 billion from July to September. GM is also losing money on its EV models, but, per the Times, is close to “breaking even,” and expects its battery-powered EVs to start generating profits by the end of the year.