American legacy automaker Ford is once again floundering with another production issue in one of its most valuable offerings, the F-150 Lightning.
The news, first reported by Reuters, came out soon after Ford fixed a nominal battery fire that had hampered production in early 2023.
What’s the big deal?
The F-150 Lighting is the only mass-produced e-truck from the Big Three, per Teslarati. Additionally, it is the Blue Oval’s foundation in a key EV market category, which is increasingly crucial to the automaker’s future.
Unfortunately, Ford has encountered yet another production hiccup despite its best efforts to deliver the F-150 Lightning to customers as soon as possible.
What’s the issue?
The latest issue with the e-truck’s production is apparently about its door handles. An inside source claimed (via Reuters) that the production is currently restricted due to a holdup at a third-party supplier.
Nonetheless, Ford said the production snag was minimal and would be compensated by the current production increase.
“While a supplier part shortage is affecting some of our North American plants, we expect to make up all of the production that is impacted.”
Ford (via Reuters)
Ford to resume F-150 Lightning orders
Despite the production snag, Ford remains persistent in resuming taking orders for the F-150 Lightning orders the following week.
However, customers’ wait time for the ordered F-150 units is currently undetermined.
In hindsight, Ford decided to cease e-truck production in early 2023 due to a minimal battery fire at its Rouge production hub, which delayed manufacturing for many weeks. Hopefully, it would not be the case with this latest snag.
Remarkably, America’s second-largest car brand continues to be optimistic about its production goal in 2023 and 2026. For context, Ford stated after Q1 2023 that it aims to produce 600,000 EVs per year globally by the end of 2023 and 2 million units by the end of 2026. Of that total, the F-150 Lightning is expected to account for 150,000 units.
See Also:
- Ford halts F-150 Lightning production due to potential battery issue
- 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning: Tremendous price hike, same high value
- MotorTrend awards Ford F-150 Lighting as the 2023 Pickup Truck of the Year
- Sunrun unveils its fleet of Ford F-150 Lightnings
- USA Customers receive first Ford F-150 Lightning and Genesis GV60
Furthermore, Ford’s CFO also declared that the company will soon attain profitability for its EV segment ahead of major competitors, approximately in 2025. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has acknowledged this will be a difficult battle, despite Ford’s huge advantage over its conventional rivals.
For those interested, you can check our 2023 Ford F-150 review here.
