Production has never been more on the minds of consumers than it is these days. Between the COVID-19 factory shutdowns and the sharp spike in demand, we found ourselves jammed with production delays, price gauges and runaway inflation. Fortunately, the jam is starting to fall apart a bit. Few automakers have faced insane demand and production delays quite as much as Ford. The popularity of the Bronco, Bronco Sport, Maverick, and Ford F-150 Lightning has made production issues more apparent. Ford is now ramping up production of the most popular models.
Can you buy a Ford F-150 Lightning?
Many customers have spent several years waiting in line for some Ford models. Hoping to keep these customers, Ford officially began production of the new cars. The blue oval people say they prioritize the most popular models. This makes a lot of sense, but it’s interesting to hear the automaker say this when production is down across the board.
Still very hard to get your hands on, this news could mean you can go to a dealer and buy one sometime soon.
Ford has the coolest production lineup ever
Ford has no shortage of its long history. However, this period Ford may be the most formidable model the brand has ever made at one time. Think about it, Bronco, Bronco Sport, F-150 Hybrid and Lightning, Maverick, Mustang Mach-E, multiple awesome Mustangs, and. Hell, this is the lineup of all time by any measure.
However, the really interesting point is that despite the number of great models, Ford missed almost every one of these models. Production delays, quality issues, and recalls have dominated the Ford story over the past few years. MotorTrend also notes that while these bugs can’t be fixed overnight, Ford appears to be actively addressing them now, and should ramp up production significantly.
How can Ford fix production problems?
Multiple factories take several different approaches to fix specific production issues. Kansas City, Missouri, is adding a third shift and hiring 1,100 additional employees. This change is expected to create an additional 38,000 commercial Transit and E-Transit trucks annually. Ford also announced that the production Ford Mustang Mach-E is being fined. The change will double the number of crossovers that take place in an hour. Maverick and Bronco Sport customers will also get some good news as these models will see production increase by more than 80,000 units this year.
The Ford F-150 Lightning is built at an EV facility in Michigan, and they’re now on track to see production triple this year. This means reaching the annual target of 175,000 units. Even after this brief, production numbers should improve dramatically.
Given that 68% of Ford’s sales this year, so far, are electric vehicles, this incentive to produce the F-150 Lightning makes a lot of sense.
These problems cannot be resolved fast enough. These new car problems have seeped into the used market, too. I think it’s fair to say we’re all set to see those insane prices and even crazier queues disappear.
