Khaberni - Ford has halted production of its electric pickup truck at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan following a fire at an aluminum supplier's factory.
The production of the F-150 Lightning will remain temporarily suspended as Ford focuses on the more profitable hybrid and gasoline-powered F-Series trucks.
Ford announced third-quarter earnings after the market close, exceeding both earnings and profit expectations. Despite the strong performance, not all the news was good.
A fire at the Novelis aluminum plant in Oswego, New York, which Ford relies on for its F-Series production, caused the company to stop producing its small electric truck, the F-150 Lightning.
Ford warned that the fire could reduce pre-tax profits by as much as an additional billion U.S. dollars than initially expected. To offset the losses, the automaker announced plans to add up to 1,000 new jobs to significantly increase production of the F-150 and F-Series Super Duty trucks. By 2026, Ford aims to increase production by more than 50,000 trucks.
Meanwhile, production of the electric truck has been delayed. Ford said that "assembly of the F-150 Lightning at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center will remain halted."
This move comes at a time when Ford is prioritizing the "more profitable" hybrid and gasoline cars, which the company said use less aluminum.
All hourly employees at the adjacent Rouge plant will be transferred to the Dearborn Truck Plant to join the new third crew.
Ford will add up to 900 jobs at the Rouge complex and 100 new jobs at the Kentucky Truck Plant to boost production. It is still unclear when Ford will resume production of the F-150 Lightning, or if it will resume at all.
