Not a single "not true", except from Brian, not AI...

[mr.Magoo]

not a single public "not true" from Jim Farley or Bill Ford or spokesperson, ...

Conclusion - they are considering it.

Well, "Brian not AI" didn't exactly commit to anything either, except "when the time is right" which is anytime between now and never, so who knows.

If you're losing billions per year, then "now" may not be the right time, especially given the current political/business climate.

Plus, if you have a years worth of trucks in inventory and your next gen is around the corner, then why bother.

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[TwentyTwentyThree]

Facts: Reading through this and the other thread - things are not great; however, the truck is 4 years old and is otherwise due for a facelift. Manufacturers facelift vehicles, change drivetrains and therefore update current models into something they longer are.

Speculation: While the reality of the situation is not great, I imagine Ford will continue making parts and supporting repairs.

 

[MaintGrl]

It would be nice (and boost sales) if Ford would actually advertise the Lightning - like damn near every other manufacturer that has EVs. Can't watch TV or stuff on line that has ads for very long at all without seeing adds that specifically advertises their EV options. Not so with Ford - particularly the Lightning (the Mach-E at least gets mentioned once in a while).

Been saying that all along.....

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

In the last month alone I have shown the truck to three people - one calls me and asked if his buddy can text me some questions since he is interested too.
While chatting he asks me "just a question, but you don't work for Ford Motor Co do you?" - LOL no, I don't, but I do know this truck and how it compares with everything I have driven since 1979.

I tell people honestly what the truck is best at, where it is less capable (long distance RV towing) and where I think the EV market is going into the future.
I can see why the dealers are not pushing the Lightning, now that they can't add $$ over MSRP to the sale price, but it seems to me, the very best advertizing for the Lightning is the 90,000+ owners.

 

[EVO]

They shut down the factory for a reason; it's not profitable. It seems pretty obvious to me the last Lightning has been produced. It doesn't matter if it's a great vehicle. There isn't a path to profitablity.

It would be one thing if it was on the same assembly line as the other F150s. Maybe it could be justified. Unfortunately, it requires a completely different line. It's more profitable to make nothing in that building than it is to make Lightnings.

They shut down the factory because of the lack of aluminum and chips. I work at Ford.

 

[gregoryhcain]

Exactly how I feel. I am now seventy and bought my first car at eighteen, the earliest age of ownership. Since then I have bought and sold more cars and trucks than I can remember owning as many as five at a time. I still have two trucks and one car one of which is my Lightning. All but a handful of these many vehicles were bought new. My ‘22 Lariat ER three years old next week with a pinch under 60,000 miles is my favorite and the best vehicle of all of them; it’s not even close. I use it as a truck for hauling building supplies, and construction garbage, and a dump trailer from remodeling my two homes, my 86 mile daily commute to and from the office three days a week, towing my Boston Whaler to lakes and bays all over the Pacific Northwest, five waterfowl hunting trips a year traversing swampy grasslands and shallow sheet water ponds, logging roads of the family forest we managed during our recent thinning harvest and finally five Worldmark condo timeshare destination vacations each year from WA to CA. Not only that we clean her up with a quick detail and she’s ready to take another couple out to a nice restaurant rather than using our car because of its smooth ride, conversation quiet and roomy comfort for four. This truck is just simply amazing. Ford should do what one dealer did with me many years ago. They gave me the keys to a new off the lot Mercury Cougar and said keep it over the weekend to see if you like it. I returned to the dealer Monday with a check. I think it’s safe to say if anybody demo drove a Lightning over a weekend they would not want to return it IMHO,

 

[RickLightning]

Ford should do what one dealer did with me many years ago. They gave me the keys to a new off the lot Mercury Cougar and said keep it over the weekend to see if you like it. I returned to the dealer Monday with a check. I think it’s safe to say if anybody demo drove a Lightning over a weekend they would not want to return it IMHO,

Smart dealers do exactly that - hand you the keys to a demo unit.

When we were considering the Mach-E, took one for a test drive, and my wife was uncertain. GM handed us the demo keys and said "bring it back in 2 days". 2 days later we came back, and bought the one we wanted.

On the Lightning, I knew they had a demo unit, so I asked if we could borrow it. Again, "absolutely". This was when they had no inventory, still working the waitlist, and we hadn't yet been offered a chance to buy (i.e. he had no sales opportunity). While we had it, windshield got hit and cracked, and his response was "it happens". We ultimately bought a demo out of state because he couldn't get us one.

 

[Trucked Up EVs]

So all this noise about Ford ending the Lightning, much discredited to crappy sources, and then today's WSJ has an editorial about the same issue, and I realized, that since all this started, not a single public "not true" from Jim Farley or Bill Ford or spokesperson, ...

Conclusion - they are considering it.

I did a video on my Trucked Up EVs channel and got a bit roasted for acknowledging it, but all Ford's responses have been through their media department, and all parroted the same response, that 'production is stopped indefinitely and priority is being given to gas and hybrid due to the fire, and Lightning will come back on line when the timing is right', etc, etc. But not one of those responses has denied the reporting.

 

[Mal106]

I have never walked in to a dealer and left with a new vehicle. I normally research the devil out of it. That is, until the Lightning. One test drive (and the frunk) and I was hooked. I wish I had done my homework, spent the money and gotten exactly what I would buy today but I have never been more pleased with a vehicle.

I still contend that barring long distance towing or no home charging; if anyone were forced to live with an EV for a month, they would never go back.

Having said that, I understand Ford's actions and hope they and other US manufacturers aren't killed by foreign vehicles when EVs are "discovered" by the masses.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

So all this noise about Ford ending the Lightning, much discredited to crappy sources, and then today's WSJ has an editorial about the same issue, and I realized, that since all this started, not a single public "not true" from Jim Farley or Bill Ford or spokesperson, ...

Conclusion - they are considering it.

Farley already commented on it…years ago.

Someone better than me has to dig it up but there was an interview with him where he speaks to the differences of the F150 and the Lightning, the amount of engineering isn’t truly understood and appreciated. I don’t recall the exact words but the sentiment is the Lightning as we know it was a bit of a one and done.

The way I heard it is that doesn’t mean there won’t be an electric truck, just that the vehicle we know and love is serving its purpose and wasn’t intended to continue as it is.

I have to see if I can find that now..it was at back around launch.

 

[Henry Ford]

They shut down the factory because of the lack of aluminum and chips. I work at Ford.

Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I am. I'm just an idiot on the Internet reading tea leaves.

 

[LightningDan]

So more news, take all with a grain of salt as we really havent heard anything from Ford besides, "We will restart Lighting production when we want to"
The F-150 Lighting we all love had a possible end of service life in 2027, with the new universal EVs taking that spot. - This however could be changed because I praise that the Lightning is just a well-built truck, decades of R&D and huge dealer/service network. Its not pretentious, blends into trucks - but perfoms amazing. All vehicles have downsides but overall Ive never had a bad drive in my truck, its fun and I love using it for real life things and knowing its going to be fine.
Its a truck, that happens to have motors and a battery. And I love it for that.

@Ford Motor Company Just upgrade battery tech, go 800V, NACS chargers, and get some American employees working on that software.

 

[GunnarH]

It would be nice (and boost sales) if Ford would actually advertise the Lightning

They do. I’ve received several ads for the Lightning on various social media in the last few days.

 

[davehu]

Ford's been in business for a century. They made a great play for the Lightning. I LOVE mine., but.... they'd be nuts if they didn't consider dropping it. Expectations of 150,000 per year. Reality just 25,000. The gamble is that over the long haul can they make money on it. But there is a lot that goes into that calculation. Time will tell.

 

[EV Engineer]

Honestly from a business standpoint it probably makes total sense right now.

The aluminum plant fire probably pushed this 6 months earlier than planned but this was coming.

I bought a brand new 2023 in 2025…….and I suspect the dealer took a bath on the truck. If they have 1+ year inventory they probably have enough lightenings to get them close to the end of 2026….if you want a lightning there is one waiting for you.

New launch in late 2027 with orders earlier. The wont miss a more than a few months without an EV truck option.

This is not a doomsday scenario. Ford is moving into next EVs after learning a lot from these.

I’d rather have a discontinued truck and FoMoCo around than have FoMoCo go under because they wanted to sell another 50k lightnings…….

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