Executives at Ford are considering discontinuing its flagship electric pickup truck, the F-150 Lightning. These discussions follow Ford’s late October decision to pause F-150 Lightning production in order to prioritize hybrid and gas-engine versions of the popular pickup. The company has also been dealing with production troubles after a fire broke out at a factory belonging to its aluminum supplier, Novelis, in Oswego, New York, earlier this year.
Ford introduced the F-150 Lightning in 2021 with a promised base price of forty thousand dollars. The company began building and selling the truck in 2022, though it ultimately cost most customers significantly more.
While it has been one of the top-selling electric trucks in the United States since its launch, Ford has struggled to sell more than a few thousand units per quarter. The market for electric trucks was already challenging even before Republicans in Congress ended the federal EV tax credit and the Trump administration rolled back emissions regulations that had encouraged the adoption of electric vehicles.