Ford Doubles F-150 Lightning Annual Production

This week, Ford officially announced that it is planning to nearly double production of the F-150 Lightning pickup. Production will continue at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, MI, increased to 150,000 trucks annually to meet the rising demand for the very first all-electric version of the United States’s best-selling vehicle, the F-Series. Starting this Thursday, the initial group of reservation holders will be invited to put in their orders for the F-150 Lightning.

“With nearly 200,000 reservations, our teams are working hard and creatively to break production constraints to get more F-150 Lightning trucks into the hands of our customers,” said Kumar Galhotra, president of The Americas & International Markets Group, Ford Motor Company. “The reality is clear: People are ready for an all-electric F-150 and Ford is pulling out all the stops to scale our operations and increase production capacity.”

Flexibility is crucial to Ford’s production setup, and for the way teams work together to provide the company’s future lineup of electric vehicles. To ensure this latest increase, a modest task force of professionals from manufacturing, purchasing, strategy, product development and capacity are planning to find ways to quickly adapt and increase production of the innovative pickup. Ford is working with key suppliers – as well as with its own manufacturing facilities Rawsonville Components Plant and Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center – to find ways to increase capacity of electric vehicle parts, including battery cells, battery trays and electric drive systems.

F-150 Lightning customer deliveries are expected to begin in North America this spring. On
Thursday, the first wave of reservation holders for F-150 Lightning will start converting their reservations to orders, and the additional reservation holders will be invited in phases to place their order over the next few months.

This week sets the last pre-build phase before starting mass production of F-150 Lightning trucks for retail customers and F-150 Lightning Pro for commercial buyers. These work-grade trucks will be used for testing in real-world conditions, collectively accumulating 1 million miles.

Ford previously stated it will increase production of the Mustang Mach-E as well, starting this year and with the expectation to reach 200,000-plus units annually by 2023; within two years, Ford will build the world-wide capacity to deliver 600,000 battery electric vehicles annually.

Ford says it is working with key suppliers – as well as with its own manufacturing facilities Rawsonville Components Plant and Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center – to find ways to increase capacity of electric vehicle parts, including battery cells, battery trays and electric drive systems.