Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) announced Tuesday, following a 6-week shutdown, that the Detroit automaker has resumed production of their popular electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck.
Ford previously halted production on the trucks to retool and expand the company’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center and the automaker says that they are now on track to triple production capacity to a targeted annual run rate of 150,000 units by this fall.
Ford said in a release Tuesday that “While the temporary shutdown of the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center limited customer deliveries this summer, the facility is now ready to accelerate the ramp-up process to unlock supply and help meet demand for the truck.”
"We've sold stock when we were shut down in June and July. We've got work to do," said Ford Model e chief customer officer, Marin Gjaja on a conference call Tuesday morning.
"We've also got ground stock to replenish as well as demos to deliver."
Ford cut the Lightning’s prices by as much as $10,000 last month, spurring a sixfold increase in new orders for the Lightning, said Gjaja.
While he declined to provide specific numbers, Gjaja did say that Ford now has “about 45 days’ worth” of orders for the electric truck.
“We expect sales will start to significantly increase in later September, and certainly in October as supply begins to rapidly ramp in the latter half of the year,” Gjaja said.
The factory has hired about 1,200 new employees to support the production increase. According to management, the company is also ramping up production at the factories that supply battery packs and electric motors for the Lightning.
“We are all looking forward to getting these F-150 Lightning trucks into the hands of our customers – from the U.S. to Norway,” said Debbie Manzano, director of manufacturing at Ford. “This milestone is the result of a lot of hard work and collaboration.”
Shares of F are up 0.68% in morning trading on Tuesday.