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Ford on Thursday announced it will temporarily halt production of its F-150 electric sedan for several weeks amid sluggish consumer demand for EVs.
The automaker plans to do nothing Rouge Electric Vehicle Plantbased out of Detroit and making the F-150 Lightning, after the transition ended in Nov. 15. Production will resume on 6 Jan.
The facility currently operates weekdays and, like other Ford plants in the US, already has a scheduled holiday week beginning on Dec. 23.
“We continue to adjust production to combine sales growth and profitability,” a Ford spokesperson said of the move.
Ford has scaled back its EV push over the past year and announced in August that it was canceling the three-row electric SUV and delaying a new electric version of the best-selling F-150 pickup truck.
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Ford has announced that it will temporarily produce the F-150 Lightning to better match consumer production. (Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The company has opted to invest more in hybrid vehicles than EVs recently amid heavy losses in its EV segment due to tepid consumer demand.
| A ticker | Security | Finally | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | This company FORD MOTOR CO. | 10.29 | -0.18 |
-1.72% |
Ford said earlier this month that US EV sales have increased by 45% this year and that its sales Photos of the F-150 Lightning EV more than doubled to 7,100 in the three months to September 30, although they represented just 3.6% of all F-Series sales.
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Ford’s EV division has lost billions in recent years. (Photos by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
CEO Jim Farley said one of the main solutions to boost EV sales is downsizing production costs – a key goal for the company as it is expected to lose nearly $5 billion in EVs this year. Ford is one of the few automakers that publicly reports EV sales separately.
Other major American automakers are experiencing similar growing pains regarding their EV plans.
I The Wall Street Journal reported that GM has delayed its plans for a new Buick EV model and a battery factory, and expects its EV business to lose money next year.
Ford and other US automakers have struggled to stimulate demand for EVs. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Automakers’ margins in the EV space have also been squeezed over the past year by a price war with Tesla, which has temporarily lowered prices several times to stimulate consumer demand.
US car manufacturers and face the threat of potential future competition from low-cost Chinese EVs.
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Although they are currently not sold in the US and face trade barriers – President Biden imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs and former President Trump said he would raise the tariff to 200% – Farley called their entry into the US market an “existential threat.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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