Ford Focuses on Profitable F-150 and Super Duty Trucks, Moves Away From EV Production

The Ford F-Series  trucks have been the top selling vehicles in America for nearly half a century. Ford is now boosting production to make sure that remains the case. The automaker says it is adding production at its two plants that build the popular Ford F-150 and the Super Duty trucks. Ford is also shifting workers away from building the F-150 Lightning EV to focus on its most profitable vehicles. All of the Detroit Three automakers are attempting to balance EV and ICE production to meet the changing customer demand. While there was a short surge in demand for EVs as consumers rushed to take advantage of the EV tax incentives, demand for EVs is expected to fall sharply now that the tax incentives have expired. 

“The people who keep our country running depend on America’s most popular vehicle – F-Series trucks – and we are mobilizing our team to meet that demand,” said Ford Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra. “As America’s leading auto producer, we will work with the UAW and our suppliers to quickly increase output at our F-Series plants in Michigan and Kentucky.”

Ford Trying to Offset Challenges

Ford is trying to recover production losses after a huge fire at an aluminum factory caused a supply shortage. Ford says it will increase F-150 and F-Series Super Duty production by more than 50,000 trucks in 2026 to meet demand and recover production losses due to the Novelis plant fire.

Ford plans to add a third shift at its Dearborn Truck Plant at the Ford Rouge Complex in Michigan for F-150 production. That may add as many as 900 workers. Ford will also add about 100 additional workers at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville for F-Series Super Duty assembly.

These changes will significantly increase F-150 and F-Series Super Duty truck volumes to meet strong customer demand and recover production losses stemming from the fire at supplier Novelis’ Oswego, New York, aluminum plant. Ford intends to boost F-Series production volume by more than 50,000 trucks in 2026. The changes will take place in the first quarter of 2026. This means creating up to 1,000 new jobs and transferring additional employees into Ford’s American truck assembly powerhouses.

According to Ford, “Dearborn Truck Plant will target assembling more than 45,000 additional F-150 gas and hybrid trucks in 2026, enabled by a new third crew of 1,200 employees. Elsewhere at the Ford Rouge Complex, Ford will add 90 employees at Dearborn Stamping Plant and 80 employees at Dearborn Diversified Manufacturing Plant to support the increase.”

Ford Halting F-150 Lightning Production for Now

According to Ford, F-150 Lightning assembly at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center will remain paused as Ford prioritizes gas and hybrid F-Series trucks, which are more profitable for Ford and use less aluminum.

All of the hourly employees at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center will transfer next door to Dearborn Truck Plant to join the new third shift. The rest of the third crew will be filled by employees transferring from other Southeast Michigan Ford manufacturing facilities as well as new hires.

F-Series Super Duty Production to Increase

Kentucky Truck Plant aims to speed up its F-Series Super Duty assembly line speed by one job per hour. That will add more than 5,000 trucks per year. The Kentucky Truck Plant will add more than 100 employees. Ford will invest $60 million in Kentucky Truck Plant to facilitate the line speed increase.

It makes sense that in the current uncertain times with tariffs and changing EV demand that all of the automakers focus on profitability. It is clear that ICE vehicles will be financing the investments in future EVs. The companies need to be planning for the future uncertainties. 

Ford Photo

Mary Conway is a professional automotive journalist and has decades of experience specializing in automotive news analysis. She covered the Detroit Three for more than twenty years for the ABC affiliate, in Detroit. Her affection for the Motor City comes naturally. Her father ran a gas station while Mary was growing up, in Wisconsin.

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