DETROIT — Ford said on Thursday it can begin shipping to North American dealers 144,000 of its redesigned F-150 and Ranger pickup trucks that it built but held back until now in an effort to head off quality problems.
Ford said it also will restart shipments this month of F-150 Lightning electric trucks which it had halted in February. Ford this week cut prices of some variants of the Lightning by as much as $5,500.
The wave of huge F-150s, Ford’s best-selling model, and midsize Ranger trucks will probably be critical for Ford to hit its 2024 pre-tax profit goal of $10 billion to $12 billion. The automaker reaffirmed that concentrate on last month.
The delay in sending the trucks to dealers could hit the automaker’s first quarter numbers due April 24.
Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler told investors last month the corporate had 60,000 F-150s in stock it expected to ship in the present quarter.
The automaker first tried a go-slow approach to vehicle launches last 12 months at its Kentucky Truck complex that builds Super Duty pickups and Navigator large SUVs. Ford paid out nearly $4.8 billion to cover warranty repairs in 2023, according to its annual report.
In the case of the redesigned F-150s, Ford engineers analyzing data from trucks held in stock discovered that certain electronic components didn’t shut off, or were using more power than expected, Ford said. “Engineers updated the problematic software before any trucks left the plant,” the corporate said in a statement.
Ford shares were up 8 cents a share, or lower than 1%, at $13.14 a share in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Credit : www.autoblog.com
