Ford Ramps Up Truck Production to 20-Year High After Fire Setback

Ford is finally getting back on track with its most important product: trucks. After a rough year caused by fires at a key parts supplier, the American carmaker is now producing pickup trucks at levels not seen in decades.

Here's what happened: Ford's F-Series trucks (a family of pickups including the F-150 and heavier "Super Duty" models like the F-250, F-350, and F-450) use large amounts of aluminum. When two fires hit their aluminum supplier, Novelis, in September and November of last year, Ford couldn't build enough trucks. Ford spent the past year helping fix the damaged plant in New York.

Now production is booming again. Key numbers:

• Super Duty truck production topped 39,000 units in August — the best month since March 2006 (a 20-year high)
• F-150 production reached its highest level since August 2024
• New trucks should reach dealerships over the next 30 to 90 days

Why does this matter? These big trucks are highly profitable — meaning Ford makes a lot of money on each one. They power Ford's commercial vehicle business, called Ford Pro.

But it's not all good news. Ford's overall U.S. sales (the total number of vehicles sold to customers) fell 10.3% in August compared to a year earlier — its eighth straight month of decline. The supplier fires are expected to cost Ford $1.5 billion this year.

A few things Ford blames for weaker sales:

• Not enough trucks earlier in the year (dealers currently have only a 40-day supply, versus a healthy 50-60 days Ford wants)
• Two vehicle models were discontinued
• Fewer sales to rental car companies
• Labor Day landing in September this year instead of August

Despite the drop, Ford's retail market share (its slice of sales to regular customers, not big fleets) stayed steady at 11.7%. The whole U.S. car industry is slowing too, with an estimated 6% sales decline.

Bottom line: Ford is rebuilding its truck supply and expects things to return to normal soon, even as the broader market cools.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/02/ford-sales-f-150-production.html