Ford plans to halve production of Fmuri 150 Lightning electric pickup trucks because of weak demand

CTOnews.com, December 12 (Xinhua)-- Ford has informed its dealers that it will reduce the weekly production of its Fmur150 Lightning electric pickup truck from next year due to a slowdown in consumer demand, according to Automotive News.

According to the memo seen by the media, Ford told its dealers that starting next year, the Rouge Electric vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, will produce an average of 1600 electric trucks a week. The company currently produces 3200 trucks a week at the factory.

Emma Bergg, a Ford spokeswoman, declined to comment on the figures released in the report, saying in an email: "We will continue to adjust Lightning production to customer needs."

Although sales of electric vehicles continue to rise, they are not growing as fast as some carmakers had expected. As a result, several companies, including Ford, have slowed down their ambitious construction plans. Ford recently said it would postpone its $12 billion investment plan, which includes suspending construction of one of its two battery plants in Kentucky and lowering production targets for another battery plant in Michigan.

Ford's electric vehicle business continues to lose money. Ford has lost $3.1 billion on electric vehicles so far this year and says it will lose a total of $4 billion this year.

But in spite of this, electric vehicle sales continue to grow. Ford has sold 20365 Fmure 150 Lightning trucks so far in 2023, up 53 per cent from 13258 in 2022. Electric vehicles accounted for just under 8 per cent of all US car sales in the third quarter of 2023, according to Cox Automotive.

Sales of electric vehicles have been hampered by high prices and a lack of charging equipment, and Ford is trying to solve the problem with new measures, such as the launch of the Fmur150 Lightning Flash, a moderately priced electric truck, and partnered with Tesla to use the company's electric car charging plug.