Ford Doubles Production Capacity For Its F-150 Lightning As Reservations Blow Past 150,000
While General Motors is in the midst of EV hell, dealing with a massive recall for its Chevy Bolt and shuttering production as a result of the ongoing semi shortage, Ford looks to be “full speed ahead” with plans for its electric F-150 Lightning.
The company’s CEO, Jim Farley, said on Thursday that it had reached 150,000 reservations for the forthcoming electric pickup. As a result, the company has ramped up hiring and increasing capacity as it starts building prototypes.
Joe White, global automotive industry editor for ThomsonReuters in Detroit, confirmed on Thursday that Ford would be expanding its F-150 Lightning capacity to 80,000 vehicles.
Confirmed: Ford doubles F150 Lightning capacity to 80,000 vehicles. pic.twitter.com/aWqbnWSlAo
— Joe White (@JBWEyesonroad) September 16, 2021
Ford plans on adding 450 jobs across 3 factories and also announced it would invest $250 million to bump up its production capacity, which was formerly 40,000 vehicles.
Ford Chair Bill Ford said on Thursday: “We knew the F-150 Lightning was special, but the interest from the public has surpassed our highest expectations and changed the conversation around electric vehicles. So we are doubling down, adding jobs and investment to increase production.”
“The reservation number has been growing quite rapidly since we launched it. That’s why we’re increasing capacity and building them as fast as we can,” Farley added.
And make no doubt about it, while other manufacturers falter, Ford’s factory appears to be up and humming.
Just got a tour of @Ford’s new Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, where workers are building the 1st preproduction models of the F-150 Lightning pic.twitter.com/OZSpOKdBcB
— Michael Martinez (@MikeMartinez_AN) September 16, 2021
Ford is planning on building about 15,000 of the model next year after its launch, and about 55,000 of the model in 2023, in a ramp up to its 2024 target.
Ford had already upped its production targets by 50% last November. This increase comes on top of that one.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 09/19/2021 – 22:30
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