Ford Motor is reportedly considering discontinuing its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, amid declining demand for electric vehicles and ongoing production disruptions in the United States.
According to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, executives are in active discussions about ending production of the all-electric pickup, which has been on hold since October due to supply issues at aluminium supplier Novelis.
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The report highlights growing pressure on Ford’s EV business, which has accumulated losses of $13 billion since 2023. October sales — the first month following the expiration of US tax credits for electric vehicles — plunged 24% year-over-year, with only 1,500 F-150 Lightnings sold.
“There is simply no demand for the F-150 Lightning and other full-size trucks,” said Adam Kraushaar, owner of Lester Glenn Auto Group in New Jersey, who represents multiple brands including Ford and GMC. “We don’t order many of them because we can’t sell them.”
If discontinued, the F-150 Lightning could become “America’s first major EV casualty,” the Wall Street Journal noted, reflecting broader market challenges as automakers scale back on ambitious electric pickup plans.
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Ford has already suspended operations at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Centre — where the Lightning is built — and is reportedly considering a pivot toward smaller, more affordable EVs. In the meantime, the automaker plans to ramp up production of combustion-engine and hybrid F-150 models, adding 1,000 new employees and increasing annual output by 50,000 units in 2026 to offset the losses.
While Ford says it intends to “resume production at the right time,” the move underscores shifting consumer sentiment amid lower fuel prices and reduced EV incentives. Even as the F-150 Lightning leads its segment against rivals like the Tesla Cybertruck and Rivian R1T, the US pickup market remains largely hesitant to embrace electrification — a reality that could soon make Ford’s flagship electric truck a costly casualty of changing market dynamics.