Mired in quality issues that have plagued the automaker for a few years now – problems that CEO Jim Farley admits he wished he would have focused on sooner – Ford has begun shelling out big bucks and implementing multiple new processes with an eye toward rectifying its quality woes. The latest example of this happened just this month, as a large number of 2024 Ford F-150 pickups have been stored at the automaker’s Dearborn test track as The Blue Oval conducted quality checks on the refreshed model, though at the same time, it also issued a stop-ship for 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning models over an unspecified quality issue. Now, we know what that issue was, courtesy of the Detroit Free Press.
“We’re being told it’s an electric connection with the headlights,” Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, told the Free Press. “It’s a new part for the 2024 model. The connector apparently can leak water and short out the lights. They’ll flicker or turn off. An important product like the F-Series needs to have all the quality issues addressed before trucks hit customer driveways. Making sure these issues are tackled first is good on Ford.”
“We expect to ramp up shipments in the coming weeks as we complete thorough launch quality checks to ensure these new F-150s meet our high standards,” said Ford spokeswoman Emma Bergg. “Quality is a massive priority, so we’re not shipping vehicles to customers until the quality is right. We don’t want trucks out there that are not up to our high standards. This is not a stop sale. Stop ship is part of the built-in manufacturing process. It’s all quality control.”
This stop-ship was implemented back on February 9th, though at the moment, it’s unclear when it might be lifted. Bergg did add that the automaker doesn’t want to set a specific deadline at this time, as it’s more concerned with rectifying the problem versus rushing to do so and instead having to deal with it again later – once the trucks reach customer hands.
We’ll have more on the 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
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