In production since April 2022, the F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup truck isn't selling well. Demand is painfully low, so much so that Ford will reduce the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center from three work crews totaling 2,100 hourly workers to a single crew.
According to Ford spokeswoman Jessica Enoch, 700 peeps will be presented with a choice between reassignment or a $50,000 retirement package. Speaking to Detroit Free Press, the cited spokesperson further confirmed that another 700 workers will be moved to the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne to assemble trucks and 4x4s. The spokesperson didn't share production volume targets for 2024 with the Detroit Free Press.
Michigan Assembly Plant's third crew should help the Ford Motor Company build more Broncos and Rangers, although demand for the latter has been abysmal at best in 2023. As for the Bronco, the sales report for 2023 lists 105,665 deliveries, or 9.7 percent worse than the 117,057 units moved in 2022.
Regarding the F-150 Lightning, which features independent rear suspension as opposed to five-link rear suspension and coil springs for the Raptor or a solid axle with leaf springs for lesser versions of the F-150, the Ford Motor Company sold 24,165 units in the United States last year. All told, the F-Series ended 2023 with 750,789 deliveries to its name.
The aforementioned change at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, which currently produces the F-150 Lightning exclusively, will take effect on April 1. Poor demand for a rather expensive pickup truck (starting at $49,995 for the work-oriented Pro trim level) with an EPA-estimated range of up to 320 miles (516 kilometers) is hardly surprising.
Photo: Ford
Expensive in its own right, the slightly smaller Rivian R1T manages up to 410 miles (660 kilometers) with the largest battery available, which adds a staggering $19,100 on top of the R1T Dual Motor's $69,900 base price. When it comes to work trucks such as the F-150 Lightning Pro, the Chevrolet Silverado EV 4WT comes to mind with its EPA-estimated 450 miles (724 kilometers).
However, at $77,905 plus the $1,895 destination charge, GM's workhorse is anything but affordable. Given these extortionately high prices, zero-emission pickup trucks don't pose a threat to their dinosaur juice-drinking sibs for the time being.
On the flip side, Tesla is the biggest winner of 2023 as far as electric vehicles are concerned. The massively popular Model Y dethroned the RAV4 as the world's best-selling vehicle, with JATO Dynamics estimating 1.23 million deliveries compared to 1.07 million for Toyota's crossover.
Over in the United States, the Model Y sold approximately 400,000 units in 2023, which places it right behind the RAV4's 434,943 deliveries. The Honda CR-V and Nissan Rogue finished in third and fourth, respectively, with 361,457 and 271,458 sales during the 12-month period. In fifth, the Jeep Grand Cherokee moved 244,594 units last year.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News