Quality problem: Ford F-150 Lightning deliveries on hold
Already facing a major production cutback, the Ford F-150 Lightning is now seeing its deliveries delayed.
The automaker has stopped shipping 2024 examples of its electric pickup since February 9 while it resolves an "unspecified" quality issue, according to Automotive News, citing a Ford spokesperson. The interruption will be of unspecified duration.
The same spokesman mentioned, however, that the Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan, continues to manufacture F-150 Lightnings. As for the conventional F-150, the modernized 2024 model went into production in December, and deliveries began last week.
According to the Detroit Free Press, concerns over parts from a supplier were behind the week-long suspension of production towards the end of January, but again the company declined to give further details.
Just over a year ago, Ford CEO Jim Farley made a point of saying that "fixing quality is my number one priority" and that "nothing else matters", before warning that the situation would not improve overnight.
The manufacturer with the blue oval has reviewed most of its testing and quality control processes, starting with the Ford Super Duty 2023, but it still issued the highest number of recalls in the entire automotive industry for the third year running.
Let's hope, in the case of the F-150 Lightning and future products such as the Explorer 2025, that things will settle down and that customers will be able to have more confidence in their vehicle.
