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As charging infrastructure woes continue, the push to EV all the things is taking a hit. We see that in the slowing EV sales, but more specifically, we see it in production cuts. We already knew Ford Motor Co. would be cutting the F-150 Lightning production in half, but now we know where that money is going: into the gas-powered Bronco and Ranger production.
What does this mean for the F-150 Lightning?
The F-150 Lightning isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Ford may be cutting production of its electric truck, but it still expects to grow in this segment – just not as quickly as it once anticipated. Therefore, the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center will transition down to a single shift starting April 1, 2024, and this will affect about 1,400 employees. About 700 of these employees will transfer to the Michigan Assembly Plant, to help with Bronco and Ranger production, while the other 700 employees will either be placed in roles elsewhere at the Rouge Complex or other Michigan facilities. Otherwise, they will be encouraged to take advantage of the Special Retirement Incentive Program agreed to in the 2023 Ford-UAW contract.
Bronco, Ranger production
Just as Rouge is cutting shifts, the Michigan Assembly is ramping them up. The plant will transition to producing vehicles seven days a week versus five, with three crews working two shifts. This adds 1,600 people to the crew, 700 of which as previously mentioned will be coming from Rouge, which means there will be nearly 900 net new hires.
This plant will produce both the Bronco and Ranger as well as their Raptor counterparts. The Ranger, which was expected to launch last year, hit some setbacks with production and strike delays. But Ford states the Ranger and Ranger Raptor are on track to launch this year, and in fact, the media drive will be happening within a couple months.
The bottom line
Ford calls this balancing production and touts its manufacturing flexibility to be able to quickly adjust to customer’s changing needs. I call this readjusting after jumping the gun. But po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe. As long as we get the Ford Ranger this year, we’ll be happy.
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