Ford to send 144,000 trucks to North American dealers – 04/11/2024 at 8:18 pm

(Automatic translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer

(Adds details in paragraph 2, stock point in last paragraph) by Joseph White

Ford FN said Thursday it will begin shipping to North American dealers 144,000 of its redesigned F-150 and Ranger trucks that it built but has held back until now in an effort to avoid production problems.

Ford also said it will resume deliveries this month of the F-150 Lightning electric truck that it suspended in February. This week, Ford dropped the price of some Lightning variants by up to $5,500.

A wave of F-150 supercars, Ford’s best-selling model, and Ranger midsize trucks will be key to Ford reaching its goal of a pretax profit of $10 billion to $12 billion in 2024. The automaker reaffirmed this goal on the site last month.

Delays in sending trucks to dealers could affect the manufacturer’s first-quarter figures, due April 24.

Last month, Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler told investors that the company had 60,000 units of the F-150 that it planned to ship in the current quarter.

The automaker first tried a slower approach to vehicle launches last year at its Kentucky Truck location, which makes Super Duty pickups and large Navigator SUVs. Ford paid 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 who analyzed data from the stock trucks found that some electronic components did not turn off or were using more power than expected, Ford said. “Engineers updated the problematic software before the truck left the factory,” the company said in a statement.

Ford shares were up 8 cents per share, or less than 1 percent, at $13.14 per share in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.