Ford is not letting suspended production of its F-150 Lightning EV to interfere with its manufacturing plans.
Ford Motor has proven it can get knocked down and get right back up.
The Dearborn, Mich., auto manufacturer endured a setback with its popular F-150 Lightning pickup, which it touts as the best-selling electric truck in the U.S., when it suspended production of the EV after a battery pack caused a fire in a truck in a holding lot during a pre-delivery quality check while the vehicle was charging on Feb. 4, CNBC reported.
“As part of our pre-delivery quality inspections, a vehicle displayed a potential battery issue and we are holding vehicles while we investigate,” the company said on Feb. 15.”We are suspending production at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center through at least the end of next week.”
It explained that during a standard Lightning pre-delivery quality inspection, one vehicle displayed a battery issue.
“We believe we have identified the root cause of this issue,” a spokesperson told TheStreet at the time. “By the end of next week, we expect to conclude our investigation and apply what we learn to the truck’s battery production process; this could take a few weeks. We will continue holding already-produced vehicles while we work through engineering and process updates.”
Ford on March 2 said that it would resume production of the Lightning on March 13.
“We will restart production at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center on March 13,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement, referring to the Michigan plant where the pickup truck is manufactured.
Ford Plans to Increase Production
But Ford didn’t stop there with that statement. The automaker on March 3 said it is increasing production at its manufacturing plants across North America to meet strong demand for the F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach E and other models.
“We have had a strong start to 2023 sales and we are moving to fast-track quality production,” Kumar Galhotra, president, Ford Blue, said in a statement. “Increasing production benefits both our customers and our business.”
Ford said its overall U.S. market share increased by 1.4 percentage points in February to 13.3 percent, powered by a 21.9 percent sales increase.
Despite the suspension of F-150 Lightning production, Ford said manufacturing of the Lightning at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center is on track to triple this year, targeting an annual production run rate of 150,000 by the end of 2023. Ford, which sold 3,600 Lightnings in February, said it will increase production of the EV with a $2 billion investment in three plants in Michigan and the addition of 3,200 union jobs.
Mustang Mach E, E-Transit Increase Manufacturing
Additionally, Ford said that it began increasing production of the Mustang Mach E this week, as it is doubling its hourly production and bringing its annual manufacturing run rate to a targeted 210,000 units by year’s end. The automaker is also adding an crew in April to its Kansas City Assembly Plant, which makes the electric E-Transit and gasoline-powered Transit vans. Ford is investing $95 million and adding 1,100 union workers as part of the Transit production increase targeting 38,000 in total van production.
The company said that its also focusing on ramping up production of its gas-powered Bronco Sport and Maverick truck for an increase to over 80,000 units this year. It added that it is also looking to find ways to increase production of its top-selling, gas-powered F-150 and hybrid F-150 PowerBoost trucks.