Ford Motor Slashes F-150 Lightning Workers as EV Sales Slow

Ford Motor Company is trimming down its workforce at its Michigan production plant for F-150 Lightning pick-up trucks. The automaker cited slow EV sales as the reason for the move.

Ford Motor will slash two-thirds or about 1,400 workers at its factory that manufactures the F-150 Lightning electric pick-ups. The company’s spokesperson, Jessica Enoch, said the displaced employees will be offered new jobs or retirement packages starting next week.

Implementation of the Latest Job Cuts

The company will start laying off plant workers on Monday next week. Associated Press News reported that Ford Motor kicked off 2024 by reducing the production of its F-150 Lightning trucks due to weaker-than-expected EV sales growth.

It was noted that while electric vehicle sales are generally booming in the United States, the pace of the growth is failing to meet the EV industry’s aggressive timetable. In addition, many people are also starting to like hybrid vehicles and buying them instead.

Reassignment of Staff as Focus Shifts to Gas Vehicles

Ford Motor Company is moving 700 employees to its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, where Ranger and Bronco models are made. The reassignments align with the company’s shift of focus to gas-powered SUVs and trucks.

The remaining 700 staff may opt to take advantage of a retirement package offered by the company last year during its negotiations with the United Auto Workers (UAW). They can also be deployed to southeast Michigan for available job posts. As explained by Enoch, the affected employees who will not retire will not go jobless since they will be reassigned.

“Their intentions were to build 180,000-plus units,” Teslarati quoted Todd Dunn, president of UAW, regarding the job cuts. “Right now, we’re looking at 55,000 units they are gonna build. There are some things out there that are causing this - distance on (battery) charges, a new technology that is being brought about overseas, that technology being implemented over there already in certain design models.”

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