Ford pauses production on its electric F-150 pickup, amid waning EV sales in US

Ford Motor Company is halting production of its electric F-150 Lightning from Nov. 18 to Jan. 6, the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker said Thursday. 

“We continue to adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability,” a spokesperson said. 

The pause comes less than a year after the company said it was permanently cutting a production shift from its suburban Detroit plant where it builds the truck, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Ford lost over $58,000 on each electric vehicle it sold this year, with total losses on all its EV lines through the third quarter amounting to $1.22 billion. In 2023 and 2022, the automaker lost nearly $7 billion on its EV business.

In April, Ford delayed the launch of an electric SUV with three-rows, which was to be built at the Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario, Canada. Then in June, the company delayed plans to produce its electric F-150 Lightnings at a plant in Tennessee. In July, Ford announced it would produce its diesel-powered F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks at the Canadian plant. The company still plans to launch the electric SUV, but now the start date has been pushed back to 2027.

Bloomberg reports that Lightning sales are up this year, but they are still falling far short of the company’s expectations in the face of waning consumer interest in EVs.