Ford halts F-150 Lightning manufacturing, citing battery points

Ford Motor will pause manufacturing on its F-150 Lightning till no less than February 24 as a result of the electrical pickup truck has a battery drawback. 

The Michigan automaker noticed a possible battery problem this week throughout a pre-delivery high quality inspection and began investigating the trigger. Ford mentioned it is not conscious of battery points impacting autos already out on the street. 

“We imagine we have now recognized the foundation reason behind this problem,” Ford spokeswoman Emma Bergg instructed CBS MoneyWatch on Wednesday. “By the tip of subsequent week, we anticipate to conclude our investigation and apply what we be taught to the truck’s battery manufacturing course of.”

Making use of that course of “may take a number of weeks,” Bergg mentioned. 

“We’ll proceed holding already-produced autos whereas we work by engineering and course of updates,” she mentioned. 

Ford started promoting its F-150 Lightning final yr. The manufacturing pause threatens Ford’s plan to ship 600,000 Lightning vehicles in 2023. 

Since their launch final Might, Ford has sold 15,617 of the electrical vehicles, in line with the latest firm knowledge out there. The corporate sold 2,436 of them in October, essentially the most ever offered in a single month.

Hovering demand for EVs

Ford is betting massive on the F-150 Lightning, investing thousands and thousands of {dollars} on a brand new facility for a car that is already been named the 2023 MotorTrend Truck of the 12 months.

When firm officers first introduced the truck in 2021, demand rapidly soared because the pre-order checklist surpassed 100,000 inside three weeks. Employees are constructing the car in a brand new plant in Dearborn, Michigan.

Ford’s pause comes as curiosity and demand for electrical autos proceed to rise within the U.S. A survey from motor membership AAA discovered that a few quarter of People say they wish to get an electrical car as their subsequent automobile buy. Analysis from Recurrent, a automobile business evaluation firm, found that curiosity in shopping for an electrical car has soared 70% since final January.

Ford raised the value of the F-150 Lightning in October because it sought to offset rising manufacturing prices. Different automakers additionally hiked the price of their EV traces — together with Rivian, GM and Tesla — amid surging steel costs and better prices for elements like lithium, which is used to make batteries. 

Ford earlier this month reported $1.3 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022, down roughly 89% from the identical interval final yr. CEO Jim Farley mentioned in an earnings name this month that he is pissed off with the 2022 efficiency “as a result of the yr may have been a lot extra for us at Ford.”

Ford’s inventory worth fell almost 1% on Wednesday to about $12.80 a share, its second day of declines.