Ford cancels dealer stock orders of 2023 Lightning
Dealer stock orders for the 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning were canceled in the U.S. in recent days, the Detroit Free Press has learned.
Ford confirmed Monday that the all-electric pickups are undergoing “additional quality checks” at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center.
Ford is now working to match its 2023 supply with demand as the company prepares to change over to 2024 Lightning production later this year, said Ford spokesman Marty Gunsberg.
“As a result, we have canceled some dealer stock orders not submitted as pre-sold” for model year 2023, Gunsberg told the Free Press. Gunsberg noted that customer orders had not been canceled.
“Our manufacturing team is critical to our quality efforts because they are the last line of defense for delivery to our customers,” he said. “We’ve identified a couple of additional areas where we believe additional checks are necessary as we ramp up production.”
The issue is not safety-related, Gunsberg said.
The estimated number of canceled orders could not be immediately confirmed by Ford.
Earlier this year, Lightning production shut down for five weeks after a fire in a Dearborn holding lot. The fire burned one pickup truck and spread to two others. No injuries were involved. At issue was the battery itself, not vehicle assembly. Battery production for the Lightning begins in Atlanta, with Ford
battery supplier SK On; the battery is assembled at the Rawsonville Ford Plant in Ypsilanti. Ford worked with SK On to identify the battery issue and remedy the situation. Production restarted in March.
The company reports third-quarter sales of
Lightning and all its other vehicles on Wednesday.