Detroit | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will nearly double annual production capacity for its red-hot F-150 Lightning electric pickup to 150,000 vehicles as the model has already attracted nearly 200,000 reservations ahead of its arrival this spring at U.S. dealers. Ford’s announcement comes a day ahead of rival General Motors’ public […] Read more

Electric truck battle heats up between Ford, GM
Ford to double output at Michigan

GM aims to tackle chip shortage with new designs
Chip-making investments to be in U.S., Canada
Reuters — General Motors aims to tackle the global semiconductor shortage with new designs built in North America, president Mark Reuss said on Thursday. Reuss told an investor conference GM is working with seven chip suppliers on three new families of microcontrollers that will reduce the number of unique chips by 95 per cent on […] Read more

Heavy factory, dealer discounts fuel U.S. truck price war
Reuters — Heavy discounts of up to US$16,000 per vehicle are fueling a “truck war” among full-size pickups sold in the U.S. by the Detroit Three, a Reuters analysis shows. Strong U.S. sales this year of the highly profitable big trucks have helped offset lagging passenger car sales. But it is not clear how much […] Read more

Ford scrambles to restart truck production after fire at supplier
Detroit | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. is working with a key supplier to shift some parts production from Michigan to Ontario, after a fire and subsequent parts shortages forced the automaker to halt manufacturing of its highly profitable full-size pickups, according to sources familiar with the companies’ plans. The supplier, Chinese-owned Meridian Magnesium Products, […] Read more