Ford’s  (F) – Get Free Report Lightning might be losing its thunder.

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The blue oval said in a statement on Jan. 19 that it is reducing production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup at its Michigan plant, citing a shift in demand for the vehicle.

About 1,400 employees at the Rogue Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn will be impacted from the transition to one daily shift starting in April, with some moving to other roles at the complex, other facilities in southeast Michigan, or to transition to retirement. 

Ford estimates that about half of the affected workforce will be transferring to the Michigan Assembly plant in nearby Wayne, Mich., where the automaker is increasing the workforce of the popular Ranger pickup and Bronco off-roader. The estimated 700 workers will be supplemented with 900 new hires to populate a new 1,600 person third crew to help the factory shift from five days of production to seven.

The big three automaker also said that a “few dozen” employees at factories making components for the F-150 could be impacted, depending on the number of employees who apply for the company’s Special Retirement Incentive Program, though it states that it would provide placements for the affected. 

Ford CEO Jim Farley presented the production shift as a shift to reach customer demand for certain vehicles. 

“We are taking advantage of our manufacturing flexibility to offer customers choices while balancing our growth and profitability. Customers love the F-150 Lightning, America’s best-selling EV pickup,” said Farley. “We see a bright future for electric vehicles for specific consumers, especially with our upcoming digitally advanced EVs and access to Tesla’s charging network beginning this quarter.”

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The automaker said in its statement noted that it “also has capacity available to scale production of gas-powered and hybrid F-150 trucks based on customer demand.” 

The move on January 19 follows a pattern of slowdowns related to EVs taken by the big three automaker. On November 21, 2023, the blue oval announced that it is scaling back the investment into the Blue Oval Battery Park EV battery plant in Michigan.

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