Ford, which aims to triple production of the F-150 Lightning to 150,000 units in 2023, will have to revise its plans for now and eliminate one of three shifts starting today. Red Factory in Dearborn, Michigan.
Around 700 jobs are affected. There will be a rotation of the furloughed shift, but it is unclear how long the measure will last.
The manufacturer mentions various restrictions, particularly related to delivery problems, and assures that this is not a consequence of the strike called by the American union UAW. Among those affected is the Ford plant in Kentucky, which assembles Super Duty pickups.
Apparently, the sharp decline in F-150 Lightning sales in the United States is another explanation. We are talking about a 46% decline in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the second quarter.
Photo: Ford
A memo written by a UAW representative and published in the Wall Street Journal last Friday said: “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that our Lightning sales are plummeting. »
This F-150 Lightning news comes three weeks after Ford announced it would halt construction on a battery factory in Michigan, again not because of the strike movement, but because the company questions the viability of the site once it begins operations in 2026.
The factory needs to produce lithium, iron and phosphate (LFP)-based batteries, which are different from the nickel, cobalt and manganese (NCM)-based batteries currently used and are more cost-effective.
“We have not yet made a final decision on this investment,” a Ford spokesman said in a statement sent to AFP.