Ford delays electric SUV line at Canadian plant, shifts production to diesel-powered pickups

Ford Motor Company continues to rethink its electric vehicle production plans. The company announced it will produce its diesel-powered F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks at the Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario, Canada – a plant originally scheduled to produce EVs. 

According to the company’s announcement last week, the decision will allow for the production of up to 100,000 units of its Super Duty trucks and provide customers with “more freedom of choice,” which will support the company’s electrification plans. 

“Super Duty is a vital tool for businesses and people around the world and, even with our Kentucky Truck Plant and Ohio Assembly Plant running flat out, we can’t meet the demand. This move benefits our customers and supercharges our Ford Pro commercial business,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. 

Reuters reported in April that Ford had delayed launches of an electric SUV with three-row seating at the Canadian plant, and in June, the company delayed plans to produce its electric F-150 Lightnings at a plant in Tennessee. 

Farley said Thursday that the company still plans to introduce electric SUVs with three seating rows by 2027, but he didn't say at what manufacturing facility. 

Ford lost $132,000 on each electric vehicle it sold in the first quarter of this year, and according to reports, the company cut orders from its battery suppliers as production plans were scaled back.