Ford Turns It Around In the Third Quarter As The Lightning Takes Off

After a disappointing third quarter, Ford’s F-150 Lightning has turned things around with increased sales reported in the fourth quarter of 2023. This information comes from the Ford Authority, the primary source of independent information about the Blue Oval.

According to the FA, Lightning deliveries totaled 11,905 units in Q4. This represents an “increase of about 74 percent compared to 6,857 sold in Q4 of 2022.”

Important story: As senior reporter John Goreham notes, the EV industry has an "-present tense problem about EVs."

For the 2023 calendar year, “F-150 Lightning sales increased about 55 percent to 24,165 units.”

Sales Comparison

Looking at the statistics, FA found that sales for the F-150 Lightning “jumped 74 percent during Q4 2023, selling 11,905 units for the top spot among four entries ranked by sales volume.”

Looking at the Lightning’s rivals, FA noted that the:

• Rivian R1T – number two in sales – experienced a 13 percent drop to 3,400 units
• GMC Hummer EV Pickup moved only 825 units
• Chevy Silverado EV “posted 443 deliveries.”

“In terms of segment share, the Ford F-150 Lighting earned a 72 percent share, accounting for nearly three-quarters if all sales, while the R1T followed with a 21 percent share; the Hummer EV posted a five percent share, and the Silverado EV held about a three percent share.

Currently, Ford has three EVs on sale:

1. The F-150 Lightning
2. The Ford Mustang Mach-E
3. The E-Transit Evan

Note that the Mustang Mach-E and the Lightning sales were equal, with 12K units delivered. Meantime, the market leading Evan, the E-Transit, moved 2,143 units.”

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Meanwhile, the “full-sized mainstream electric vehicle truck segment grew 53 percent, selling 16,573 units during Q4 2023, meaning Ford F-150 Lightning sales outperformed the segment average, FA notes.

New Entrant Joins Truck Ranks

And, as FA also noted there was a new entrant in the full-sized EV truck segment, Tesla’s Cybertuck, Tesla has yet to indicate its sales numbers in the fourth quarter, and it still hasn’t disclosed delivery numbers for their all-new pickup.”

FA went on to discuss its take on EV truck sales. It noted that after “Ford F-150 Lightning sales fell 46 percent during Q3 2023 due to plummeting demand for the all-electric full-sized pickup truck, they’ve picked back up during Q4 2023 to finish out the year jumping 74 percent,”

Its interesting to note that the Blue Oval officially cut back “production or the 2024 F-150, essentially cutting output at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, including downsizing the automaker’s production output at the future BlueOval Battery Park, Michgan, and the the Blue OvalSK Battery Park plants.

Ford Has also announced that it will shift some workers from the Rouge plant to the Michigan Assembly plant to ramp up Ford Bronco and Ford Ranger production.”

After Ford F-150 Lightning sales fell 46 percent during Q3 2023 due to plummeting demand for the all-electric full-size pickup truck, they’ve picked back up during Q4 2023 to finish the year, jumping 74 percent.

Interestingly, Ford still admits Lightning inventory “remains high as it is among the slowest-selling used EVs even though it closed out 2023 as the best-selling EV pickup and one of the top-selling EVs overall.” Furthermore, Ford notes it is making changes to its dealer invoice pricing. The automaker has begun offering hefty discounts in October, which can be combined with the $7,5909 EV tax credit as long as the overall prices don’t exceed the $80K limit. Furthermore, the F-159 Lightning gains X-Plan pricing like other models in the Ford stable.”

A closing thought: No one would have believed hybrids are leading the way to the future but they are

A couple if closing thoughts:

1. For 2024 Ford is dropping two configurations, yet it ads a new Flash trim level sitting above the XLT trim
2. On the other end of the spectrum, the Blue Oval debuted the Platinum Black trim
3. The 2024 Lightning gains ActiveX seating for the Lariat trim, and the entire 2024 lineup gets a heat pump as standard while dropping Active Park Assist 2.0.

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.