Sharp declines in F-150 Lightning sales have forced Ford to cut production of its flagship electric pickup truck, amid excitement over the impending release of Tesla’s Cybertruck.
Detroit automakers this week comfirmed recent wall street journal Report The company is canceling entire production shifts for 700 workers at its century-old Dearborn plant, known colloquially as Rouge, which is the core of its global manufacturing network and is just a short drive from its headquarters.
The news comes shortly after Ford family patriarch and executive chairman Bill Ford emerged from behind the scenes on Monday to issue a rare public statement directly on the website, addressing the UAW union and its leader Sean Fein. Shawn Fain issued an emotional appeal for an end to a strike that would only benefit non-union competitors like Tesla.
“We will lose factories like today and communities will suffer tremendously,” he said in a statement. short speech At Rouge restaurant, CEO Chris Farley was conspicuously absent. “This is about the future of the U.S. auto industry.”
Market researcher Cox Automotive, which tracks U.S. electric vehicle demand, warned that the so-called “the trough of disillusionment“The halcyon days of double-digit growth are over.
Last week, the company forecast that U.S. sales of new electric vehicles are expected to hit 1 million units sometime in November, with full-year 2022 sales of about 800,000 units. This is thanks in part to the launch of more than a dozen new models.
But this growth is in inventory”Dramatic increase” Although the average transaction price of electric vehicles plummeted to $50,683 in September from more than $65,000 a year ago.
“Product availability grows exponentially, while consumer acceptance grows in a more linear fashion,” wrote.
When studying EV demand, most analysts focus on sequential growth from one quarter to the next to better gauge adoption, rather than the traditional year-over-year metric used for vehicles that rely on mature technology.
To put this into perspective, growth has slowed recently, with third-quarter property sales expected to be up just 6% from the previous three months.
Elon Musk’s Cybertruck reveal remains uncertain
Third-quarter F-150 Lightning sales actually fell by a fifth from the previous quarter, according to data from Cox Automotive. If demand remains weaker than expected, it could be a warning as Farley looks to develop a new next-generation electric truck, which he dubbed a “personal bullet train” in May.
The sharp decline in new orders for Ford’s electric trucks is a reversal of the company’s previous enthusiasm. In January 2022, it said it would almost double Rouge’s production line capacity can build 150,000 Lightnings per year. The decision came after 200,000 customers pre-ordered the electric pickup truck, enough at the time to book production for nearly three years.
As more customers make deposits, it’s even raising the base price of the hood sticker from $40,000 to $60,000 to keep the backlog manageable. A substantial increase. Ford’s Farley then likes to cite Lightning to demonstrate that its electric vehicles are just as popular as Tesla’s and enjoy similar pricing power.
But depositing money is different from confirming an order. Many customers may have to cancel as interest rates soar and their ability to make monthly financing payments decreases.
Others who haven’t received a prompt from Ford confirming their interest in taking a firm order for the F-150 Lightning may now be on the fence as they at least wait to see if the highly anticipated Cybertruck is a more attractive option.
That’s because Elon Musk is keeping consumers in suspense until the very last minute. Even though he teased what many believed to be the first Cybertruck for customers in July, an official release date has yet to be revealed, while final performance specs and pricing remain a closely guarded secret.
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