Ford Confirms Reports That F-150s and F-150 Lightnings Have Been Stored

Standard Procedure For Some Time

Late last month, Torque News reported reports of pickups being stored at the Blue Oval’s Dearborn test track. The original information was gleaned from a report by the Ford Authority, a leading independent voice of information about Ford.

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At the time of the original report early last week, it was unclear why the automaker was storing Ford F-150 and F-150 Lightning EV pickups were being stored. Though there was no hard proof, it was believed that Ford was “performing routine quality checks on its refreshed 2024 F-150 pickups before they were sent off to dealers across the country.”

Since the initial reports, the Ford Authority (FA) had learned that a quick stop-ship order had briefly held up some pickups. The stop-ship order was due to a “problem with the headlights.” Since the Torque News's original report, shipments to dealers have begun again.

Automaker Is Ensuring Quality

Interestingly, many trucks have been stored at the test track. Indeed, a report by WLNS (Channel 6 News) also shows “even more pickups being stashed at the Michigan International Speedway.”

While it may seem unusual for Ford to store vehicles in and around Dearborn and Detroit, it turns out that it isn’t all that unusual. FA reports that the automaker uses storage areas like its test track and the Speedway to hold pickups. Storing all the pickups “surprised residents, who aren’t used to seeing such things, and led to much speculation about why the pickups were being stored.

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Ford didn’t leave anyone in the dark about why the pickups were being stored as the Blue Oval noted the Speedway storage was being used in January and February “as part of the automaker’s new process of completing quality checks to ensure vehicles are problem-free before sending them to dealers and customers, as has been the case for over a  year now.”

Backlog Has Been Broken, and Trucks Shipping

Interestingly, while FA did report the backlog of units sitting at tracks and other storage facilities, the backlog has been broken, and the pickups have now begun flowing to dealerships and directly to customers. And those units still sitting there “won’t be waiting around much longer.”

Indeed, those waiting for their pickups or dealerships awaiting the pickups will hardly notice that the trucks have been held up because they weren’t supposed to begin shipping until Q1 at the earliest.

Ford Motor Photo

Marc Stern has been an automotive writer since 1971. His automotive articles have appeared in venues including Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated, AutoWeek, SuperStock, Trailer Life, Old Cars Weekly, Special Interest Autos, and others. You can follow Marc on Twitter or Facebook.