I hadn't realized they were cutting 2 of their 3 production crews and going to one shift. Was that in the discussion in December? Because that is a pretty big deal.

 

Production moved to two shifts in October. But it doesn't matter either way. Shifts can be added back at will. There was no production for much of Q3 last year with factory retooling and part shortages for recall items.

The plant was really built for the next gen EV trucks which are likely to hit the market late next year/early 26.

 

Yeah, but they said the cut to 2 shifts in October was temporary. Now they are staying they are going to one shift April 1st.

Something doesn't add up. If they were running 3 shifts or even 2 shifts, where were all these trucks going if they only sold 24k trucks all year.

 

 

Not sure but maybe they were doing more hands on building that has since been more automated?

Have no idea, just ideas.

Add, duh that made no sense. Lol

Meant to say, I have no clue.

 

LOL. I found them.

I did a search on Autotrader for new Lightnings nationwide, and I got 10,984 results. Almost 11k Lightnings sitting on dealer lots unsold. For a vehicle that only sold 24k all last year, that's a lot of inventory.

 

There was no production for extended periods in 2023, absolutely zero for much of Q3 for example, between recalls/stop sales and factory retooling for 2024.

The roughly 12,000 sold in Q4 sounds like a reasonable go-forward quarterly target, so maybe 45K to 50K for the year. Remember even at 25,000 it was still the best selling EV truck last year, and it did that with factory shutdowns, certain dealers still trying to gouge and interest rates being what they are.

 

Again, you have information but not knowledge.

Ford pushes data to dealer websites as trucks are leaving the factory. That's where Autotrader pulls from. So that number includes trucks at the factory, truck en route to dealers and sold inventory en route to the customer.

Both my Bronco and my lightning appeared on my dealer's website (and autotrader and others like cars.com) as they were being built. If you'd asked the dealer, they weren't available for sale, but if you just looked at their website or aggregator sites you'd have assumed that they were.

 

True, I've seen that with C8s. Not sure how many are factored out by that.

So, then where did all those trucks that were being produced by at least 2 shifts and sometimes 3 shifts go?

 

And for more information, I did the same search for non-Lightning F150. Came up with 61,785. That's 8.5% of last year's non-Lightning sales. Meanwhile, that percentage for the Lightning is 45% of last year's sales. So it doesn't really matter if they are rolling down the line or in transit or whatever, there is FAR more supply than demand at this point. Where they are parked at the moment is irrelevant unless it's a customer driveway.

 

Again, information but not knowledge. The only thing we're really seeing here is that everyone has access to google.

 

And the interpretation of that information that proves the point someone wants to prove

 

I would go by how many customers have keys in the hand and not by how many are listed as for sale.

Mfg's have the ability to slow the supply to keep prices elevated but eventually when people see cars piling up, we all know they will need to do some major marketing or deep discounts to move them.

Not talking about any car specifically, just in general.

​​​​​

 

The only thing that has been proven is that AJT123 was correct. Actually, he was more than just correct. They aren't just cutting. They are slashing, Freddie Kruger style.

 

No. We had this discussion in December. Projecting a smaller increase isn't the same as cutting actual production. Ford will build more and sell more in 2024 than they built and sold in 2023. That's not a difficult concept to grasp, unless someone is choosing to be deliberately obtuse and/or are saddled with a room-temperature IQ.