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

[RickLightning]

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.

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[RLXXI]

Wsj is as prestigious as the National Enquirer, I wouldn't put any faith in anything they publish. We'll just have to wait and see, afaik things change in 28 with the new platform they discussed.

 

[Grease Lightning]

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 think that is an obvious direction they are considering for sure.

I think they may also be thinking of should they trim it back and offer a public version so they can still offer a fleet version.

While my specific department doesn’t need one at the cost, they do have a nice use case even with the SR battery for governmental fleets, corporate campuses, and even local supply houses.

So I think the bean counters are busy at work deciding if a 5 model year old vehicle should live on as is, get a minor refresh, or get retired.

 

[tearitupsports]

It is sad that one of the best vehicles ever produced is in this state of flux. I blame it 100% on the dealer network and their furious pushback of not only the Lightning, but EV in general.
Unfortunately dealers make 50% or more of their gross margin on service, and they know that EV's will be the near end of that cash train. If sales and service were not so tightly integrated, then you would have seen a much different uptake of buyers for EV's.
Do keep in mind that the source of the WSJ article is a dealer. Sometimes you can talk your way into making things true, which is what they are trying to do.

 

[DemandingJay]

I've had 22 vehicles in my life (counting company provided vehicles). This is the best one I've ever had, my absolute favorite, and it's not even close.

This would make me incredibly sad. I firmly believe that, with the exception of frequent long distance towing, the Lightning is better than the ICE F150.

 

[Henry Ford]

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.

 

[RickLightning]

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 it down due to supply of aluminum sheeting...

 

[PJnc284]

They shut it down due to supply of aluminum sheeting...

In a way he is correct. If it were outselling the ICE F150 and they were making money hand over fist, we likely wouldn't even be having this discussion.

 

[WXman]

It is sad that one of the best vehicles ever produced is in this state of flux. I blame it 100% on the dealer network and their furious pushback of not only the Lightning, but EV in general.
Unfortunately dealers make 50% or more of their gross margin on service, and they know that EV's will be the near end of that cash train. If sales and service were not so tightly integrated, then you would have seen a much different uptake of buyers for EV's.
Do keep in mind that the source of the WSJ article is a dealer. Sometimes you can talk your way into making things true, which is what they are trying to do.

I've read that a lot on this forum, but I have not seen that in my area. In fact, the dealer I got mine from turns Lightnings out constantly. When I got mine back in summer, they had 8 of them delivered, sold 6 before I got there, mine was 7th, and the last one was being used as a demo. When I looked a week or two ago out of curiosity, they've replenished their inventory and now they've got more Lightnings in different colors again. They seem to love selling them.

 

[RickLightning]

In a way he is correct. If it were outselling the ICE F150 and they were making money hand over fist, we likely wouldn't even be having this discussion.

It would never outsell the gas truck...

Lightning uses more aluminum than gas truck.
Lightning is clearly less profitable, and less in demand, therefore shutting it down until aluminum plant is up again at end of year made sense.

 

[TaxmanHog]

In other threads, folks with pending '25 orders are being re-written as '26, production of the 26 units are predicted to start in March, hopefully sooner IMHO.

 

[K6CCC]

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).

 

[Scorpio3d]

Economies of scale and profitability!

Ford's F-Series, including the F-150, has been America's best-selling vehicle for over 40 years. In 2024, Ford sold 765,649 F-Series trucks in the U.S., with the F-150 Lightning accounting for 33,510 units.-from ChatGPT so I assume it’s somewhat accurate.

So am I going to sell 730,000ish massively profitable vehicles or am I going to focus on the 33,000 not profitable vehicles? Not to mention the current climate for EV sales. If Ford were turning out half Lightnings and the other half ICE F 150s they would probably have reached profitability on the Lightning but that is not the case. Still 33,510 units last year and I’m not sure what this year is not terrible in this climate.

I agree best vehicle I’ve ever owned! You would have to pry it from my heated steering wheel warmed dead hands-

 

[swajames]

There's really no reason for Ford to comment on rumor beyond what they've already stated. And as a shareholder, I'd be disappointed if Ford management wasn't constantly asking this question about almost all of their offerings. With that said this is obvious lazy journalism, with no actual sourcing other than a dealer stating that that particular dealer isn't shifting them. That dealer probably ought to lose their franchise, but it does also remind us that the single biggest barrier to these tremendous vehicles getting the sales that they should are Ford's shitty dealers.

 

[tearitupsports]

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).

The lightning was heavily advertised for a long time. By itself for a while and then as a pick your drivetrain option.

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