It’s no surprise that Ford wants to sell as many vehicles as possible this year, and today the company detailed plans to sharply increase production of several models that are in high demand. The most notable of these is the F-150 Lightning, which Ford says is on track to build three times as many as last year.
The plans come on the heels of lighting production being halted for several weeks due to a battery problem. Ford has since fixed the problem and said production will resume on March 13. With assembly back on track, the company hopes to start building 150,000 Lightnings annually by the end of this year. In 2022, Ford said it sold 15,617 copies of the electric F-150.
Of course, the Lightning is just one of the Ford models said to be in high demand. Others that will increase production include the compact Bronco Sport SUV and the Maverick pickup truck. To meet demand in North and South America, the company plans to increase production by more than 80,000 units in 2023.
Earlier this year, we learned that Ford planned to increase production of the Mustang Mach-E by nearly 67 percent, from 78,000 units last year to 130,000 in 2023. That’s said to be already underway, and today the company said changes at the production plant will help to nearly double the hourly production of the Mach-E. Ford said it is aiming for an annual production rate of 210K by the end of this year.
With Ford also saying it will add more workers in April at the Kansas City assembly plant where the Transit van and its electric counterpart are built, the company aims to increase its annual output by 38,000.
While Ford has not announced specific plans to increase production of other popular models, the company did mention that it is trying to find ways to build more gas-burning and hybrid F-150s, which are built at the Dearborn, Michigan plant. Ford is also preparing to introduce new or updated versions of the Escape, the Mustang, the Super Duty trucks and the Ranger.
The latter will be built on the same assembly line as the full-size Bronco, and the introduction of the new-generation Ranger may be why Ford hasn’t said it will increase Bronco production.
Senior Editor
Eric Stafford’s car addiction started before he could walk, and it fueled his passion to write news, reviews and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno-esque car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social media influencers make it seem, so he eschewed financial success altogether to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a degree from Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si.
