Ford Motor Co. plans to shut down the Michigan factory that produces its F-150 Lightning plug-in pickup truck, its signature electric vehicle, through the end of the year as demand for EVs continues to wane.

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The move is the latest blow to a model that had been a centerpiece of Ford’s EV strategy and that chief executive Jim Farley said would be “a test for adoption of electric vehicles.” The automaker will begin a seven-week shutdown in mid-November of the Dearborn plant visited by U.S. President Joe Biden in 2021, who drove a Lightning and declared “this sucker’s quick.”

“We continue to adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability,” Ford said Thursday in a statement.

While Lightning sales are up this year, they are far short of Ford’s ambitious expectations as many mainstream car buyers eschew EVs due to high prices and a spotty charging infrastructure. Ford began the year by cutting Lightning production in half and reducing the factory to one shift of workers, while boosting production of gasoline-fueled vehicles like the Bronco sport-utility vehicle.

Ford stopped shipping Lightnings in February for an unspecified quality issue. And then it cut the electric pickup’s price to stimulate sales.

Farley spoke of the “slow uptake of EVs” during Ford’s third-quarter earnings call with analysts Oct. 28 and predicted Ford would lose US$5 billion this year on its battery-powered models. Ford shares tumbled as it lowered its profit guidance and said it continues to struggle with high warranty costs to repair quality problems with its models.

The automaker is scrambling to develop a new line of compact EVs priced below US$30,000 and in August scrapped plans to roll out an electric three-row SUV. Ford said it will launch a small electric pickup truck in 2027 that is being engineered by a “skunkworks” team in California, led by a former Tesla Inc. executive.

“We’re already on our second generation of electric vehicles — they’ll be launching in the next couple years,” Farley told analysts on the earnings call. “We’ll reduce the losses short term on our gen one products and set us up to be a global competitor in the long term.”

Lightning production is scheduled to resume on Jan. 6, Ford said. Automotive News earlier reported the Lightning plant’s idling.

Bloomberg.com