DETROIT – Ford said interest in the new F-150 Lightning is so high that it’s doubling down on electric cars. The automaker is now working to increase production.
A year ago Ford announced it was building the F-150 Lightning and started expanding the Rouge Truck Plant. Now demand is so strong they’re already adding to the plant and creating new jobs.
Ford President of Americas Kumar Galhotra announced to a large crowd of supporters at the Rouge Truck Plant on Thursday (Sept. 16) morning.
“We already have received more than 150,000 customer reservations for the all-new F-150 Lightning since it was released in May,” Galhotra said.
Ford plans to expand the plant to increase production. The expansion will also create 450 new jobs. Those jobs will get split between the Rouge, Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center, and the Rawsonville Components Plants where they’ll make the batteries.
“The new investment with these added jobs will allow us to increase F-150 Lightning production to 80,000 trucks,” Galhotra said.
The plan should happen by the end of 2023, well ahead of the original schedule. Ford started pre-production on Thursday.
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