As GM Authority has been closely following, the sentiment surrounding the electric vehicle market has been changing in the closing months of the 2023 calendar year, with General Motors abandoning its goal of producing 400,000 EVs by mid-2024, citing the need to “continually evaluate EV demand.” Now, crosstown rival Ford has announced that it is slashing production of the Ford F-150 Lightning due to slowing consumer demand.
According to a report from Automotive News, the Blue Oval is reducing production volume of the all-electric pickup truck to around 1,600 Lightning units per week starting January 2024. Before this announcement, the Michigan-based automaker had plans of assembling an average of 3,200 examples a week, eventually working toward an annual goal of 150,000 Lightning units.
In a statement, a Ford spokesperson said that the company “will continue to match production to customer demand.”
Across the automotive industry, EV demand has fallen as of recent, with companies like General Motors and Ford taking steps to address this issue. Before this new trend emerged, Ford had been quite bullish on the efficacy of electric vehicles and their place in the market.
“The reality is clear,” Current Ford COO Kumar Galhotra stated back in January 2022. “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.”
Interestingly, despite this pullback on F-150 Lightning production, sales of the all-electric pickup truck continue to climb. In fact, November 2023 saw the 4,393 units sold, a monthly record for the Blue Oval.
“The narrative has taken over that EVs aren’t growing; they’re growing,” Ford CFO John Lawler claimed in October 2023. “It’s just growing at a slower pace than the industry and, quite frankly, we expected.”
It’s worth noting that the launch of the Chevy Equinox EV, Chevy Silverado EV RST, and GMC Sierra EV Denali were all delayed by a few months. However, General Motors CEO Mary Barra made no mention that slowing demand was the culprit behind this decision, instead citing a software optimization strategy.
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Comments
Interest was huge when Ford announced the F-150 Lightning starting at $39k. In reality the cost is $80k before dealer markups, and the product falls short of its promised capabilities. Tough to sell a product that does 30-40% less than promised at 105% the price. The Cybertruck may learn the same fate. Time will tell.
All of the Ford virtue signalers have theirs.
I’m stunned that EV’s are sitting on lots for months and are not selling: A series of vehicles that only have a range of 300-400 miles, take a few hours to recharge (while you’re waiting at a rest stop alongside the highway), are approximately twice as expensive as ice vehicles and whose lithium is being mined by 10 year old children in China.
As usual, some idiot rants with incorrect facts. The number one and two lithium exporting countries are Australia and Chile. GM is involved in lithium extraction in the US https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/gm-shakes-up-lithium-industry-with-california-geothermal-project-2021-07-02/ Some cobalt — used in EV batteries — is mined by children in the Congo but somehow all the other uses of cobalt seem to be okay.
Resorting to ad hominem cements your legacy. Please stop. You’re embarrassing yourself.
The US also gets lithium from China, as they are a large player in the lithium game (#3 in the world to be exact). I feel bad that you are incapable of having a friendly conversation.
EV trucks in their current formula do. Not. Work. Any objective truck owner/user could have told them this years ago. They thought truck Gould be their margin champion to EV profits like how ICE trucks carry the big three financials. We need hybrid trucks. Hybrid systems add range, capability, and convenience while being better for the enviro long term and short term. EV trucks do none of those, albeit a small enviro claim depending on charging energy sources
While I think GEN3 EV’s with solid state batteries and more efficient motors might come closer to being competitive, they won’t be contending with the current gen ICE trucks. GM has their new small block coming, ford will respond, and RAMs hemi will be replaced by something more modern than the hemi, which is a 2003 motor with a 2009 refresh.
Yes the Ford Lightning is sitting on dealers lots next to hundreds of F150’s.
F-150 ice sales are up 16% from the same time last year; whereas, the F-150 Lighting sales are down 46% from the same time last year. Capiche?
I couldn’t care less, as I am a GM guy through and through. EV’s are not selling. There is a reason why hundreds of US auto dealerships wrote letters to Biden, opposing his authoritarian EV mandate.
Infamous: This has less to do with being EV and more to do with price, interest rates and the constant “fear factor” from people like you and the media/right wingers. EV sales (not just this truck only) are up. EV sales have gone above a million already this year with December to go.
So EV’s are selling. It’s not “hundreds of US auto dealerships”, but approximately 3,900 dealerships or about half of the new car dealerships in just Florida and California alone. So even if it’s nearly 4,000 dealers, that is a drop in the bucket compared to the full amount of new car dealerships just in the US. Capiche?
There is no “fear factor” from me. I listed facts. These vehicles get 300-400 miles per charge, they take several hours to charge, they are approximately twice as expensive and the lithium is mined in China. Keep in mind that the 300-400 mile range is without pulling a trailer. When you are pulling a trailer, that figure is cut in half (150-200 miles). Every year, I travel south with my motorcycles in tow. I have a dual axle, enclosed trailer with two bikes inside. It is a 1,000 mile trip. I would have to stop 5-6 times and the trip would take at least twice as long. If you would rather use an electric vehicle for this trip, by all means, go right ahead. EV sales are up over the past several years, as this technology is in its infancy. Of course sales (across the board), will be up, but they still lag far, far behind ice vehicles. The sales numbers are not booming as you want us to believe.
As far as the authoritarian EV mandate comment. It IS an authoritarian action. Forcing people to purchase EV’s because ice are being banned? I thought we lived in the USA. Look, if someone wants to buy an EV, that is cool with me. If someone wants to buy an ice vehicle, that is also cool. I thought we lived in the “Land of the Free”, which provides people with choices. If you want your government to make choices for you, and ban everything they deem to be unfit, there are other countries that can oblige you.
I’m sure somewhere, Mao and Lenin are sharing a drink and smiling from ear to ear.
Enjoy the rest of your week. Cheers.
You are twisting the facts to suit your point of view. Nobody is forcing people to buy EV’s and the government is not making choices for you. The market will dictate the ratio between EV and ICE sales, it is already a fact recognized within the industry. You mentioning Mao and Lenin to support your arguments points to your age group, explaining your reticence to accept that the times are changing.
California has already established that the sale of ice vehicles will be abolished in their state by 2035 and several other states are considering the same fate. People want choices!
I am in my 30’s and wrote my college thesis on Marxism, but thank you for following the MSM’s false narrative of “everyone not marching lockstep with Progressives, must be 85 year old coots, deep in the throes of senility”.
Ok, I was wrong about the age group. Then I would expect you to better understand how fast and deep everything we know now, can change by 2035. The EV adoption is jut a drop in the bucket of problems to surface by then. We might just run out of oxygen to burn all the rest of the fossil fuels available.
I respect your opinion.
I don’t know if I can respect the “run out of oxygen” opinion 🤣🤣🤣
I also wonder how many people will pony up for a second EV. Most Tesla drivers complain about their quality. Heck, most Tesla drivers buy their teslas because they want to own the car made by the man who runs spaceX, and Not A Flamethower, not because they think their saving the environment
Article title is either poorly worded or intentionally misleading.
They are cutting production RAMP, not actual production numbers. They are still planning to make more next year than they did this year by close to 3x (on track for about 25k this year, and planned 75k next year).
EV’s are NOT the near future. They are in our future but not right now, and I hope all these automobile manufacturers get what they deserve in the next few years because of all this EV push, and price gouging they have been doing the past 3 years!! Sit back and get your popcorn ready because its going to get ugly!!! Cheers..
Ford has drastically underestimated the demand for certain of its ICE products and drastically over estimated the longer term demand for both the Mach E and Lightning. It’s cost them a ton of money.
Ford really needs a better a crew doing their demand forecasting modeling. It’s really not that difficult if you do the product market research properly and combine it with a deep dive into the targeted segment numbers, inflow and outflow analysis, etc. etc,. Standard demand forecasting stuff.
The tricky part is there’s sometimes a “gut feel” element to it as well. That’s often where senior execs who’ve lost touch with the market (or never had it) miss the right call.
Car Companies need to realize (Legacy Auto) that shoving batteries on an ICE Platform doesn’t work.
Then on top of it the Lightning charges Waaaaaaaay too slow and is inefficient due to it being an ICE vehicle basically.
Throw in the Pricing strategy (if you want to call it that) and this truck needs help.
Even Tesla will have slight issue with the Cybertruck pricing at the beginning. The key difference between the two is they most likely have different Customer Base and Tesla can mass produce eventually meaning dropping the prices.
Automakers need to bring the price down on their EV’s and they will sell like Hotcakes just like they do in Europe and China.
There is a reason the Bolt sold well.
It’s all about product. The Lighting was rushed to market and is just so-so. Great ads proclaiming you can use it to power your house were over the top. Chevy Silverado is a much better product and will outsell the lighting unless Ford comes out with an improved Gen 2.
The Mach e is way over priced as evidenced by Hugh dealer discounts. BTW the Blazer EV is also overpriced
Hmm…$10,000-$15,000 dealer mark ups, then another $9000 to finance a Lightening….they will sit there forever. Let these same dealers remove their mark ups, and subtract another $5000, then maybe they begin to sell.
There was NEVER ANY auto buyer interest in electric work trucks at any price. Any report supporting interest was fabricated.
The word is out.
Has anyone considered that demand for EV’s (of all types) at this time has reached it’s “saturation point” and that demand is now stalled because everyone who just had to have an EV, waited for Tesla to come up with the most advanced EV’s and the infrustructure to maintain it’s products before they’d purchase one..but even Mighty Tesla, while selling over 2 million EV’s so far has had to face reality that even they’ve reached the “saturation point” where everyone who wanted a Tesla now has one and all other EV manufactures who came late to the game have to realize that it’s going to take some time before America accepts the higher cost of any EV coming to market today. Until the day that all EV’s cost no more than any similar ICE product and the day comes when you can simply pull into ANY one of a hundred thousand charging stations across the USA, from city to rural areas, mountains to the sea shores, coast to coast and “charge up in a few minutes” (and I mean a full charge not just 50 to 70 percent) and it not cost you any more than what fossil fuel cost, you are never going to see the EV replace the ICE vehicle, not in my or your liftetime! Okay, ‘Nuff said…those who now have an EV and love it, just be aware that someday, you may want to trade or sell your “current” (no pun intended) EV or maybe trade it in, and you may be shocked at the lower demand there is for used EV’s for if they’re having problems selling all of the new EV’s they’re now building, what makes you think that buying that EV was a “great deal for you”! The more vehicles they have available, just sitting on the dealers lots, the lower the resale will be when it’s time to sell or trade your used EV. Something to seriously think about before you sign on the dotted line and take deliver of your new EV. Whats the future worth of the EV product you just bought to the rest of the car and truck buying public? Maybe your choice for a new EV may not be the most cost effective vehicle you’ll have chosen for the life of the vehicles loan, which nowadays is hitting as high as 60 months and with high interest auto loan rates running rampant (along with out of control inflation) perhaps it’s time to reconsider your purchase of a new EV. However if you’ve got the cash in hand and the desire to purchase a new EV of your choice, by all means “go for it”….and may you enjoy many miles of safe and trouble free motoring.
VW cutting EV Production in Europe.
Yeah, It’s all about rightwing fear and FOX News.
2,000,000 Teslas recalled because AutoPilot drives them under semi-trailers …. decapitation.
Snowflakes gotta melt .
Keep trying, Gretas .
Now go upstairs and tell Mommy you need a hug. Maybe she’ll have some fresh baked cookies and a nice cold glass of milk for you.
Can we just have an unbiased test of these trucks pulling a selected trailer. Maybe a 28 foot travel trailer. Lightning, Silverado EV, Rivian and whatever Ram has to offer. Have a designated travel route established, not a test track, but real world driving. Lots of twisty bends and hills. Then we’ll see whose worthy and who should get off the pot. Of course no one wants that because the actual range numbers would be laughable. We all know that. These trucks are a joke once you pull any weight with them. What’s the bloody point if you can’t load your boat on and actually make it to your destination without a 2 hour stop