Transportation
Ford to Halt F-150 Lightning Production as EV Demand Wanes
- Michigan factory to be idled for seven weeks from mid-November
- CEO Farley has warned of ‘slow uptake’ for plug-in vehicles
A Ford F-150 Lightning electric vehicle during an event at the DC Armory in March.
Photographer: Kent Nishimura/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Ford Motor Co. plans to shut down the Michigan factory that produces its F-150 Lightning plug-in pickup truck, its signature electric vehicle, through the end of the year as demand for EVs continues to wane.
The move is the latest blow to a model that had been a centerpiece of Ford’s EV strategy and that Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley said would be “a test for adoption of electric vehicles.” The automaker will begin a seven-week shutdown in mid-November of the Dearborn plant visited by President Joe Biden in 2021, who drove a Lightning and declared “this sucker’s quick.”