Ford workers produce the electric F-150 Lightning pickup at the automaker’s Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center on Dec. 13, 2022.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
DETROIT — Ford Motor plans to halt production of its all-electric F-150 Lightning from mid-November until early next year to address bloated inventories and narrow losses on the pickup trucks.
The automaker on Thursday confirmed the seven-week shutdown would occur at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in suburban Detroit from Nov. 18 until Jan. 6, including previously planned holiday downtime at the end of the year.
“We continue to adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability,” Ford said in an emailed statement.
The roughly 730 hourly workers at the Michigan plant will be placed on temporary layoff. Ford said not all of the workers will be laid off for the entire duration of the downtime.
The canceled production, which was first reported by Automotive News, comes as sales of all-electric vehicles have not grown as quickly as many had expected amid higher costs and reluctant consumer adoption.
Sales of the F-150 Lightning are up 86% this year, but the company loses money on the vehicle and has been subsidizing sales. That includes a reported program offering dealers up to $1,500 for each 2024 F-150 Lightning they order from one of the automaker’s new regional electric vehicle distribution centers.
Ford on Monday said its Model e EV operations are expected to lose about $5 billion this year.
Ford executives have said the automaker’s next generation of EVs will be less costly than its current generation, and that it won’t launch a product unless it can be profitable within a year.
The production slowdown represents a fall from grace for the F-150 Lightning. Ford executives such as CEO Jim Farley once touted the vehicle as having the same importance as the Model T, but the company has moved to slashing planned output of the pickup in half to begin this year.
Ford’s overall days’ supply of new vehicles was 112 days as of the end of September, according to Cox Automotive. The F-150, including electric and traditional models, was at 100 days. Ford’s other EV models — Mustang Mach-E crossover and E-Transit van — were at 128 days and 112 days, respectively, Cox reports.
Ford has a target range of 50 days to 60 days of supply.