Employees put engines on the body as Ford Motor Co. gas powered F-150 vans beneath manufacturing at their Truck Plant in Dearborn, Michigan on September 20, 2022.
Jeff Kowalsky | AFP | Getty Pictures
Ford Motor Co on Friday mentioned it was finding out methods to spice up output of gasoline-powered and hybrid F-150 vans at a Michigan manufacturing unit as a part of a broader plan to spice up manufacturing of a number of fashions.
The No. 2 U.S. automaker mentioned it’s growing manufacturing by greater than 80,000 autos for its Bronco Sport and Maverick this yr, up from 225,000 in 2022.
The automaker reiterated that it’s nonetheless on monitor to triple F-150 Lightning EV manufacturing this yr, focusing on an annual manufacturing run fee of 150,000 by the tip of 2023. The automaker was pressured to halt manufacturing in early February after a battery hearth, and plans to renew manufacturing on March 13.
Ford shares rose 3.6% in early buying and selling on Friday.
Ford’s U.S. F-150 gross sales fell 9.9% in 2022 to about 654,000, together with 15,617 F-150 EV vans, as the corporate struggled with manufacturing and provide chain issues.
Common Motors final month mentioned it might idle the Fort Wayne, Indiana, meeting plant that builds Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup vans for 2 weeks beginning March 27 to take care of “optimum stock ranges with our dealerships.”
GM, Ford and Chrysler mother or father Stellantis dominate the U.S. giant pickup market, and for the previous two years have been elevating costs on their vans to file ranges as supply-chain snags restricted manufacturing.
The U.S. Postal Service this week mentioned it might purchase 9,250 E-Transit supply autos from Ford beginning later this yr.
Ford started growing manufacturing of the Mustang Mach-E this week and plans to just about double its hourly manufacturing and produce its annual manufacturing run fee to a focused 210,000 models by the tip of 2023.
