Ford F-150 Lightning production restarts with tripled capacity

01 August 2023

We recently reported on Ford's price cuts for the F-150 Lightning, which were going to be enabled by the company's tripling of production capacity at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center. This was shutdown for six weeks in order to expand and retool the production line for the newly targeted capacity.

Today, the plant is open again, with all the upgrades in place. Thus, production of the F-150 Lightning has officially resumed. As expected, the facility is now on track to triple its production capacity to a targeted annual run of 150,000 units by this fall.

There are many layout improvements as well as new tooling at the plant designed to boost efficiency and bolster quality too. With the increased production, the Lightning Pro units are now available for retail customers in limited quantities, while new and exciting trim levels are expected to be unveiled in the near future.

The Rouge EV Center will deliver more than 70,000 F-150 Lightning trucks this calendar year. The plant now has equipment that automatically measures and validates exterior body fit for margin and "flushness" precision, and this is the first time any of Ford's North American production facilities have had this.

There are also 1,200 additional employees who are currently undergoing training, which will continue for the next three weeks. Battery pack production is ramping up too at the Rawsonville Components Plant, while Ford's Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center is increasing the production of powertrains to match the scale that the F-150 now needs.

Interestingly, Ford says the recent price cut announcement "helped to drive a threefold increase in web traffic and a sixfold increase in customer orders".