Wedoany.com Report-Nov 1, Ford Motor Co. plans to shut down the Michigan factory that produces its F-150 Lightning plug-in pickup truck, its signature electric vehicle, through the end of the year as demand for EVs continues to wane.

The move is the latest blow to a model that had been a centerpiece of Ford’s EV strategy and that Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley said would be “a test for adoption of electric vehicles.” The automaker will begin a seven-week shutdown in mid-November of the Dearborn plant visited by President Joe Biden in 2021, who drove a Lightning and declared “this sucker’s quick.”

“We continue to adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability,” Ford said Thursday in a statement.

While Lightning sales are up this year, they are far short of Ford’s ambitious expectations as many mainstream car buyers eschew EVs due to high prices and a spotty charging infrastructure. Ford began the year by cutting Lightning production in half and reducing the factory to one shift of workers, while boosting production of gasoline-fueled vehicles like the Bronco sport-utility vehicle. 

Ford stopped shipping Lightnings in February for an unspecified quality issue. And then it cut the electric pickup’s price to stimulate sales.

The automaker is scrambling to develop a new line of compact EVs priced below $30,000 and in August scrapped plans to roll out an electric three-row SUV. Ford said it will launch a small electric pickup truck in 2027 that is being engineered by a “skunkworks” team in California, led by a former Tesla Inc. executive.

“We’re already on our second generation of electric vehicles — they’ll be launching in the next couple years,” Farley told analysts on the earnings call. “We’ll reduce the losses short term on our gen one products and set us up to be a global competitor in the long term.”

Lightning production is scheduled to resume on Jan. 6, Ford said. Automotive News earlier reported the Lightning plant’s idling.