Ford Is Boosting Production Of Electric Vehicles In North America

The automaker will produce more Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit EVs to meet strong customer demand.

Ford F-150 Lightning assembly at Rouge Electric Vehicle Center

Photo by: Ford

Dan Mihalascu

By: Dan Mihalascu

Mar 3, 2023 at 12:12pm ET

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Ford has announced it is boosting production of its EVs at manufacturing plants across North America to meet strong customer demand.

The automaker will produce more Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit electric vehicles at its plants in Cuautitlan (Mexico), Detroit and Kansas City as Ford electric vehicle sales are up 68 percent through February.

In Mexico, Ford has begun increasing production of the Mustang Mach-E this week, with the changes made at the plant allowing the carmaker to nearly double its hourly production and reach the targeted annual manufacturing run rate of 210,000 units by years' end.

The Mustang Mach-E helped Ford rank second in US EV sales last year, and is bringing new customers to the brand – more than two-thirds of customers come from other makes.

In Michigan, Ford is on track to triple production of the F-150 Lightning at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center this year, targeting an annual production run rate of 150,000 by the end of 2023.

Gallery: Ford F-150 Lightning Production

Ford F-150 Lightning production

The F-150 Lightning is the best-selling electric pickup truck in the US, with 15,617 sales recorded in 2022 and 3,600 in the first two months of this year. After a production halt caused by a battery issue detected by supplier SK, Ford will resume F-150 Lightning production on March 13.

The automaker is investing $2 billion across three plants in Michigan for the F-150 Lightning production increase, adding 3,200 jobs in the process.

Ford is also adding an additional crew in April at its Kansas City Assembly Plant, which manufactures the E-Transit van, America’s best-selling electric van in 2022. The automaker is targeting an annual production increase of 38,000 vehicles (E-Transit and Transit combined) and is investing $95 million and adding 1,100 jobs as part of the production increase.

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"We have had a strong start to 2023 sales and we are moving to fast-track quality production. Increasing production benefits both our customers and our business."

Kumar Galhotra, president, Ford Blue

In addition to electric vehicles, Ford is also increasing production of the Bronco Sport, Maverick, and F-150 – both gas and PowerBoost hybrid variants.