With record reservation numbers, Ford is boosting production for the F-150 Lightning by adding a a third shift at their factory in Michigan.
Although Ford was not sure of the public interest in the truck, demand has certainly exceeded expectations.
According to a report by CNBC, the company has added a third production shift to the Dearborn Truck Plant and Rouge Electric Vehicle Center to keep up with the demand.
With the new shift the facility now runs three rotating crew members on 10-hour shifts seven days a week, while still completing an expansion to the facility to accommodate the ICE and EV F-Series production.
Ford’s Plant Manager Corey Williams noted that:
That’s how we’re doing this fast. We’re building a product while building out the factory.
The goal for Ford is to hit a top capacity of 150,000 units out of the facility by next fall. This is a giant step forward for the automaker who previously planned to build 40,000 per year F-150 Lightning’s before the launch.
Dearborn has long been one of the production homes for the F-series truck and is the sole production plant for the F-150 Lightning.
The addition of a third shift happened in November and has also added more jobs to the facility. Dearborn now has 750 employees, up from the original 500 working on the electric truck’s production line.
The plant’s extension should be done in the next few months and be up and running by early 2023.
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