Ford's new all-electric F150 Lightning grosses nearly 200,000 orders after launch
FOX Business' Grady Trimble spoke with CEO Jim Farley.
Ford flooded with orders as electric F-150 launches
Fox Business' Grady Trimble talks to Ford CEO Jim Farley on 'The Claman Countdown.'
Ford's chief executive officer heralded the flood of customer reservations after his company's official launch of the new Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck.
CEO Jim Farley told FOX Business' Grady Trimble on "The Claman Countdown" that the release is the biggest moment of his career.
Trimble asked Farley about the effect the semiconductor chip shortage and spike in mineral commodity prices are having on the auto industry, and whether he is concerned about it, given the success and importance of his new electric truck sales.
8 TIMES FORD REINVENTED THE F-SERIES PICKUP TRUCK
Ford F-150 Lightning. (Reuters/Aly Song / Reuters)
Lithium, aluminum and nickel prices are spiking, Trimble noted, but Farley said the current state of the markets will not affect the trajectory or sales targets.
"No, because we will prioritize it," he said. "Strategically, nothing is more important than for us right now to get a jump start selling E-V pickups as a leader in the industry already, in volume."
"So we will protect this production -- If we're short on chips, they will go into Lightnings, [Mustang] Mach-E's and Transit [vans]."
Ford's move comes as states like California seek to enact blanket bans of internal combustion engine vehicles within only a few years.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Ford's Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Mich. (Ford)
On FOX Business, Trimble reported that Ford is under great pressure to have a successful launch of the F-150 Lightning because the internal combustion version of the F-150 has reportedly been the top-selling vehicle in the U.S. for decades.
Two hundred thousand preorders for the new electric version have been made, he said, pointing out from his live report inside Ford's Dearborn, Mich., factory that production stopped for the day so that employees could "enjoy the moment."
The original F-Series pickup launched for the 1948 model-year. The all-electric F-150 Lightning features a standard all-wheel-drivetrain and the F-Series' first independent rear suspension. Top models are rated at 563 hp, which makes them the most powerful F-150s ever built.
Fox News' Gary Gastelu and Fox Business' Grady Trimble contributed to this report.
