Ford is reportedly experiencing significant supply issues with its F-150 pickup truck, America’s best-selling vehicle for over four decades.
The full-size pickup remains in short supply even though the automaker has added a third shift at the Dearborn Truck Plant earlier in the year to make up for lost production caused by fires at key aluminum supplier Novalis’ factory last fall.
F-150 supply at dealerships was down 34% in February compared with the same period last year, Cars.com data cited by the Detroit Free Press shows. That’s a serious problem for Ford, which uses roughly 700 pounds of aluminum on every F-150.
Ford Focusing on Building More Profitable High-End F-150 Trims
Ford
According to David Greene, principal of Marketplace and Industry Analytics at Cars.com, Ford is using the available aluminum to build more of the high-end trims of the F-150, which are more profitable thanks to an average price of around $87,000. Obviously, that has led to Ford building fewer entry-level F-150 trims, which have an average price of approximately $52,000.
Cars.com data for January and February 2026 shows Ford has added 25% more of highest trim F-150s to inventory and decreased production of the base models by 19% compared to the same period last year. According to Greene’s estimates, Ford has manufactured around 40,000 F-150s in the first two months.
The analyst added that this appears to mirror the strategy automakers used in 2021, when the supply chain was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, causing a shortage of semiconductor chips. At the time, carmakers focused on making more of the pricier models rather than base trims.
Greene also noted that the strategy may also help offset tariff costs on the aluminum Ford sources from other suppliers to produce the F-150’s body. In addition to building expensive trims, Ford is increasing the delivery fees on 2026MY vehicles by $200 to $2,795 on all F-150s and by $700 to $2,795 on the heavy-duty F-250 and F-350 trucks.
Ford Can’t Say For Sure When F-150 Inventory Will Fully Recover
Ford
To make matters worse, the war in Iran is affecting global aluminum production, leading to price volatility and scarcity. That said, Ford claims it’s working with supplier Novelis to get its plant back online, although that may not happen until later this year.
A spokesperson for Novelis told Detroit Free Press that the company expects the factory to become operational again by the end of June. Despite that, F-150 inventory will likely remain unstable for the time being; Ford COO Kumar Galhotra said full inventory recovery might occur further into the second half of 2026.
Last fall, repeated fires at the Novelis aluminum factory in Oswego, New York, pretty much idled production, forcing Ford to halt manufacturing of its F-150 Lightning all-electric truck, which was subsequently axed. The automaker also had to pause production of the Expedition and Lincoln Navigator full-size SUVs. In the wake of the Novelis plant fires, Ford started working with other aluminum suppliers, but that comes with added costs.
The persisting aluminum shortage later disrupted production of F-150 gas pickups, which are the company’s bread and butter. Ford’s top brass said at the time that adding a third shift at the Dearborn Truck Plant will help it build an extra 50,000 trucks in 2026 to make up for the lost F-150 production.
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