Ford to idle F-150 Lightning EV plant in Dearborn for weeks

[TaxmanHog]

Corporations pay huge taxes on payroll, the net flow to wages & salaries are tapped at the "income tax level" by it's workers, contractors and material suppliers.

I've seen gigantic liabilities on form 941 quarterlies reports, these funds come into the treasury in weekly large deposits, some more frequently when they partition which payroll dates they run to even out cash flow.

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[Maxx]

in what world does it cost $5 billion in losses per year?

This is how much they spend on Warranty Fixes ($4.8B):

https://qz.com/ford-warranty-costs-earnings-1851605102

https://www.reuters.com/business/au...any-performance-slips-sources-say-2024-10-31/


They may bring the threshold of what constitute a bad battery module down in one of those OTAs ($5K per module). Don't be surprised to see more Lightnings on fire.

 

[KevinC]

By 2027 The Federal Vehicle EV mandate will start to take effect. Thats going to help drive sales to some degree in both the Feds buying them as well as fed employees realizing they like driving them and want one for themselves. They have a fleet across the many agencies of over 650,000 vehicles. If they were to maintain lightning production it would be a good fit for a big chunk of those.

 

[MotoGary]

This could be great news for those of us who are planning on keeping our rare trucks in pristine condition to sell for millions at the 2084 Mecham Classic EV Auto Auction. By then, Ford should have FordPass and OTA updates working. /s

 

[Maxx]

This could be great news for those of us who are planning on keeping our rare trucks in pristine condition to sell for millions at the 2084 Mecham Classic EV Auto Auction. By then, Ford should have FordPass and OTA updates working. /s

Yup, 2083 OTA will disable one of the motors and half the battery packs, and 2024 update will enable them (for a fee = millions). Ford stock will be splitting at $500/share because they finally learned they can make much more money out of making unreliable software than they can from unreliable hardware.

p.s. Joking aside, knock on wood, my truck (hardware) has been rock solid so far.

 

[MountainAlive]

Is there also a chance Ford is going to introduce some kind of mid cycle change to the Lightnings being built in 2025? And taking the assembly offline for a few months allows them to set that up?

 

[TaxmanHog]

Is there also a chance Ford is going to introduce some kind of mid cycle change to the Lightnings being built in 2025? And taking the assembly offline for a few months allows them to set that up?

IMHO, not likely.
They had alluded to this pause previous to the most recent media report, I had adjusted my projections worksheet then from pausing at third week of December to early November, with the latest news I actually added one week.

 

[doomrabbit]

Can’t help but wonder what this means for the truck’s software and support moving forward - I’m guessing it’s not good. They’re probably moving those resources away from the Lightning, at least for now - which could mean fewer, buggier OTAs and even longer wait times for responses from Ford on any issues (or no responses at all). That would be shortsighted on Ford’s part as word of mouth from existing owners could start to trend down, discouraging future buyers, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they started pulling operational people away from the business units in the red.

 

[Danface]

This is how it is done. Only the little people pay taxes, big people get refunds (on taxes that they didn’t pay).

That's because this is American and never let it be said that we don't have the best political system money can buy!

 

[Jim Lewis]

Here's the Inside EVs take on the shutdown. The article mentions the general downturn in public enthusiasm for EVs, too. It's a three-part article. The part on what VW is getting out of Rivian "zonal architecture" was interesting, too, as well as how it helps reduce miles of wiring in an EV.

Ford F-150 Lightning Production Hits A Speed Bump (InsideEVs.com)

 

[TaxmanHog]

Ford confirmed this week it would stop F-150 Lightning production in November, for the rest of this year and into early January. Roman and Andre cover the details in this news video!

 

[Mashedtators]

Can’t help but wonder what this means for the truck’s software and support moving forward - I’m guessing it’s not good. They’re probably moving those resources away from the Lightning, at least for now - which could mean fewer, buggier OTAs and even longer wait times for responses from Ford on any issues (or no responses at all). That would be shortsighted on Ford’s part as word of mouth from existing owners could start to trend down, discouraging future buyers, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they started pulling operational people away from the business units in the red.

We just got karaoke! What more could you ask for?

 

[Pioneer74]

Is there also a chance Ford is going to introduce some kind of mid cycle change to the Lightnings being built in 2025? And taking the assembly offline for a few months allows them to set that up?

Not a chance. In fact, the trades people in the building are being surveyed for a month layoff. Any trades that want to work while the REVC is down will be loaned out to other buildings. Basically, the place will be a ghost town.

 

[Nikos]

$5 billion model e loss? Ouch. I wonder if this plant production pause is for retooling or to slow production to line up with demand.

Most likely to line up with demand.

 

[drdirk]

Would not surprise me if they never restart production. The economics Just don’t work for Ford. On top of that demand is just too low.

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