Ford ramps up F

After a six-week shutdown for retooling and expansion, Ford Motor Co. has restarted production of its all-electric F-150 Lightning in Dearborn with about a 45-day supply of customer orders to fill, the automaker announced Tuesday.

"We've sold stock when we were shut down in June and July. We've got work to do," Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer for Ford Model e, told reporters about the Monday restart on a conference call. "We've also got ground stock to replenish as well as demos to deliver."

Despite a reported dip in demand for electric vehicles industrywide, and globally, he said, "We feel very good right now. But the future is somewhat unpredictable and volatile. We'll have to see how the market plays out. We're seeing competition increase. ... We're going to have to adjust with the market ... We look at the U.S. and EVs are growing 40% or more on volume year on year for the automotive industry. That's incredible growth."

Gjaja added, "The demand is there. We now have the supply to match it."

Ford is on track to triple its production capacity at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center to a targeted annual production run rate of 150,000 units by the end of September, said Debbie Manzano, director of manufacturing.

“We are all looking forward to getting these F-150 Lightning trucks into the hands of our customers, from the U.S. all the way to Norway,” Manzano said.

Factory redesign will help increase efficiency and improve quality, she said.

The factory now utilizes equipment to automatically measure and validate exterior body fit for margin and flushness precision, the first time such tools have been deployed in Ford’s North American plants, Manzano told reporters. A station was added to validate wheel alignment and headlamp aim for driver assist technology, she said.

Training for about 1,200 additional manufacturing employees will continue for three weeks, a mix of workers that includes UAW members who transferred from the Dearborn Truck plant and new hires, Manzano said. New workers are shadowing experienced employees in a buddy system to speed up learning, she said.

The plant began with about 500 workers and now has an estimated 2,000 total, Manzano said.

Ford is scheduled to build more than 70,000 F-150 Lightning trucks in calendar year 2023, Ford said in its news release.

Already, lower prices over the past two weeks have increased orders "sixfold," the release said.

In mid-July, the automaker slashed prices of the Lightning:

The XLT trim level accounts for more than 50% of new orders, Ford said Tuesday. Lightning Pro units are now available for retail customers in limited quantities, with these units allocated for loyal reservation holders who have been waiting to order since launch — some as long as two years.

More:Ford to shift hundreds of workers to F-150 Lightning plant, hire 300 new employees

Battery pack production is also ramping up at Rawsonville Components Plant and the Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center is increasing production of EV power units to match the scale of F-150 Lightning assembly at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center.

More:Ford teases F-150 reveal, plans to capture buyers not yet sold on electric vehicles

Lower prices and shorter wait times should help move buyers more quickly and comfortably into electric trucks, Ford said. Having a good supply of trucks for test drives at dealerships will help, too, Gjaja said.

Ford has only one F-150 Lightning per dealer today, on average, which inhibits sales potential, he said,

"On average, it takes about four weeks for a freshly built Lightning to get delivered to a customer," Gjaja said.

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Ford is working to create demand rather than expect it to happen, Gjaja said.

Test drives at dealerships are up, and supply now won't be "a barrier to entry," he said.

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.