The factory that builds Ford’s electric F-150 Lightning pickup has resumed operations following a six-week hiatus for renovations, and the recent price reductions for the EV has also significantly increased its demand.
Ford cut the Lightning’s price by up to $10,000 last month. However, the least expensive version of the pickup now starts at around $50,000.
According to Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer for Ford’s “Model e” EV division, those price cuts resulted in a six-fold spike in new orders for the Lightning. Gjaja stated, “Ford currently has about 45 days’ worth of orders for the electric truck.” More than half of new Lightning orders are for pickups in the more expensive XLT grade, which starts at around $55,000 and has an EPA-estimated range of 240 miles.
As supply starts to ramp up rapidly in the second part of the year, “We expect sales to start to increase in late September significantly, and certainly in October,” Gjaja added.
Ford announced on August 1st, that the Lightning’s Dearborn, Michigan, factory has started making the vehicle after a planned downtime for modifications. By the end of September, the facility will be able to produce Lightnings at 150,000 cars per year, three times its prior output.
According to Debbie Manzano, Ford’s manufacturing director, the facility has added roughly 1,200 extra workers to help with the rise in output. She stated that the onboarding process for these new staff will take around three weeks.
In addition, “Ford is increasing output at the plants that produce the battery packs and electric motors used in the Lightning,” Manzano claims.
