Ford Motor (NYSE:F) revealed Thursday that the Dearborn automaker is on track to reach its 150,000-unit production goal on the electric F-150 Lightning this year. Adding that the company is also giving the largest production increase to the XLT trim that customers have been waiting for.
"Customer interest for XLT has considerably outstripped supply since the F-150 Lightning launch and we’ve worked with our suppliers to help address that,” said Marin Gjaja, Ford Model e chief customer officer, in a statement. “We heard loud and clear from our customers that they want their truck deliveries as close as possible to their orders. As we scale production, we are making this possible.”
The update follows an incident earlier this year where Ford was forced to halt production and shipments of their electric pickup for more than a month after a battery caught fire on a truck and spread to two others in a holding lot near the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, where the trucks are built.
The production stoppage may have put Ford behind on filling orders for the pickup, but the automaker is still ahead of Detroit rival General Motors’ electric Chevy Silverado.
"It's going to be some time in 2024 before GM introduces lower trim levels of the Silverado," said Sam Abuelsamid, principal e-mobility analyst for market research firm Guidehouse Insights. "So now's a good time for Ford to take advantage of that capacity...build those trucks, get those into customer hands."
Ford EV sales were down 13% year-over-year in May. Sales were affected by disruptions at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center and at the Mustang Mach-E plant in Mexico, which was also down for several weeks earlier this year.
Ford is also looking to increase production at their Mach-E plant to 130,000 units this year and has steadily done so in the last few months with more than 13,600 units assembled in May. Year to date, the plant has produced more than 33,000 Mach-Es.
Shares of F are up 0.04% in afternoon trading on Thursday.