Ford has paused dealer shipments of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, although the company also recently began deliveries of its 2024 gasoline versions of the truck.
Ford ordered a halt to deliveries of the F-150 Lightning on February 9 for an unknown reason, according to a spokesperson in a statement to Automotive News. The automaker is still producing the F-150 Lightning at its Rouge Electric Vehicle (EV) Center, and it's not clear when the company plans to resume deliveries of the pickup.
Meanwhile, Ford has also begun deliveries of its 2024 gas-powered F-150 units after inventory piled up in the company's yards since production began in December.
“We began delivering the first redesigned F-150 pickup trucks to dealers this week,” Ford noted in a statement. “MY24 Lightnings started deliveries last month. We expect to increase deliveries in the coming weeks as we conduct thorough launch quality controls to ensure these new F-150s meet our high standards and delight our customers.”
Ford has not disclosed why it issued a sales halt on F-150 Lightning shipments, and a company spokesman declined to comment on whether gasoline versions of the F-150 faced quality restrictions. The company said it encountered a “supplier parts issue” in late January on both the gasoline and electric versions of the truck, which led to a slowdown in production.
While Ford originally said it would begin deliveries of the new model year pickups in early 2024, many of the F-150 units have been piling up in the company's inventory in recent months. A Ford commercial customer told Automotive News that the delivery date for a shipment of nearly 100 trucks has been delayed by up to eight weeks at this time.
Last month, Ford also outlined its plans to cut its F-150 Lightning production forecast for this year to refocus on gasoline vehicle production and even move some workers from the Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan, to its Michigan assembly plant to put in Wayne.
In a statement to Teslarati about when the company planned to increase production of the F-150 Lightning to previous levels, a Ford spokesperson said the company will “continue to adjust production of the F-150 Lightning based on demand.” .
The news also comes just days after Ford introduced several incentives for the F-150 Lightning, including up to $15,000 off the purchase price of certain configurations. The automaker also ended 2023 with its best quarter ever in electric vehicle sales, between the F-150 Lightning, E-Transit van and Mustang Mach-E.
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