Ford cuts planned 2024 production of electric F-150 Lightning in half
- Ford Motor will cut planned production of its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup roughly in half next year. - It marks a major reversal after the automaker significantly increased plant capacity for the EV in 2023.
DETROIT — Ford Motor
will cut planned production of its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup roughly in half next year, marking a major reversal after the automaker significantly increased plant capacity for the electric vehicle in 2023.
The new production plans call for average volume of around 1,600 F-150 Lightnings a week at Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, starting in January, according to a source familiar with the decision. The automaker most recently planned to produce roughly 3,200 of the vehicles on average per week. . . .
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From WSJ
Hasbro Cutting 1,100 Jobs After Sluggish Toy Sales Persist Into Holidays
CEO Chris ■■■■■ says challenging conditions expected to stretch into next year, prompting another round of layoff
Updated Dec. 11, 2023 5:37 pm ET
Hasbro HAS 0.39%increase; green up pointing triangle is cutting nearly 20% of its workforce as weak sales for toys and games persist into the critical holiday shopping period.
The maker of Transformers action figures, the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy game and Monopoly will cut about 1,100 jobs, on top of 800 layoffs earlier this year, Chief Executive Chris ■■■■■ said Monday in a memo to employees viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Hasbro reported having about 6,500 employees as of the end of 2022. . . .
The video game industry has been hammered with layoffs lately. Bungie has had to lay off nearly 200 employees, Embracer Group has shut down two entire studios this year, and Microsoft has been laying people from the game division off left and right. Epic Games, the guys who make Fortnite, laid off nearly a thousand employees two months ago.
Jeep’s story is sad.
The massive layoffs there are not necessarily economy-related.
According to Federal Law (CAFE Standards) you can make X-number of trucks or an SUVs etc. if and only if your brand also sells y-number of smaller cars. "Sorry jeep, your fleet does not include enough Accord-type care or Elantra-type cars so you’ve reached your limit and you have to stop selling SUVs . . . only your competitors can keep making them.
Basically, the same SUV, crossover etc., if it comes with a Jeep label is illegal, but if you take off the Jeep label and slap a Honda label on it it’s legal. Definitely one of the dumbest laws in the history of mankind A total shin-kick to capitalism, US jobs etc. and a giant gift to their foreign competitors.
It also doesn’t help that Stellantis has ran its North American operation pretty poorly. Dodge and Chrysler were both depreciated with very little investment. Plus they inherited Fiat-Chrysler’s brain dead decision to spin Ram off as its own brand. For years Dodge and Chrysler relied on the old Charger and 300 platform as their only volume sellers. And now that they’ve been taken out back and shot in the head those two brands literally have nothing to sell. They focused so much on Ram and Jeep (both very high profit) that they just let Dodge and Chrysler wither away.
Honestly I feel bad for Chrysler Corp. Every conglomerate that has owned them (Daimler Mercedes, Cerberus, Fiat, and now Stellantis) has just ran them into the ground over and over again. They should have sold themselves to Volkswagen. At least Volkswagen would have provided them with car platforms to sell.
Speaking of video game layoffs, Embracer just announced they are shutting the doors on their third studio this year. Free Radical Design’s (they made Timesplitters back in the day) employees have received notices and thank you letters.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. They electrified the wrong truck.
They should have focused their EV development on the Maverick compact truck platform. The platform is better suited for EV development. It’s compact, light weight, and unibody. Elements that excel for the basis of a BEV.
Instead they decided to electrify a 5000 pound truck whose potential customers don’t give a damn about EVs. Full size truck buyers are traditional as all hell. They want what they know. Not something new.
Whereas the Maverick appeals to a broad segment of customers who are willing to consider alternative power trains. Urban dwellers in particular are more attracted to compact trucks. Since ya know they are actually drivable in large cities. Whereas maneuvering a 20 foot long F-150 in a dense city is like trying to drive an aircraft carrier around.
Good point when you consider who buys these F-150s. The cheapest Lightning model is 50,000 and gets 240 mile range. If you’re towing, you’ll be living at a charging station.
It’s impossible for bad legislation to be produced by a Democrat mind, just ask any forum lib. These Democrat politicians all went to college and are highly educated.
Aren’t they trying to pass some tailpipe legislation? The goals are unrealistic. Like when you listen to a 5 year old kid and he says something crazy. That kind of unrealistic.
