Ford F-150 Lightning one step closer to New Zealand

Ford’s first fully electric pick-up, the forthcoming F-150 Lightning, is one step closer to a local berth. Although it’s perhaps best described as a case of ‘one step closer, one step back’.

Overnight the F-150 nameplate was confirmed to be returning in Australia via a right-hand drive conversion program at RMA Automotive in Brisbane. However, the Lightning was not included in the announced line-up, and the announcement did not extend to New Zealand.

Speaking to sister publication AutoTalk, a Ford New Zealand spokesperson confirmed the F-150 is still a local work in progress.

“The F-150 announced in Australia is not confirmed for New Zealand at this point,” the spokesperson said.

“But we have always had a small but steady stream of customer queries for the F-150 in New Zealand, especially for its towing capacity. We are looking into options for NZ and how we could make available the F-150 for those customers.”

Over the ditch Ford Australia Andrew Birkic, President and CEO of Ford Australia and New Zealand, wouldn’t rule out the Lightning to the press.

“RMA and Ford Special Vehicles have a lot of work to do in terms of the engineering, setting up the manufacturing facility,” he said.

“Let’s get it here, let’s get it down the line, let’s spend the time on the remanufacture, let’s get it out to our customers. Then we’ll move on to the next step. What we want to do is ensure the process is robust.”

He noted that Ford has an “open mind” about adding further models to the range. “I absolutely love the Lightning,” he added. “It’s incredible. Absolutely, I’m sure we could sell that product.”

Some Australian reports have indicated that Ford Australia needs to prove the business case for the standard F-150 first before the brand’s headquarters allocate the arm with Lightning variants.

“Right now [America] really is the focus ,” Birkic added.

“North America are investing billions of dollars to make sure that program is robust, and they get that vehicle to their customers and dealers.”

In New Zealand, demand for the Lightning is strong. Last October, Ford NZ managing director Simon Rutherford noted that the brand had been “inundated” with local inquiries about the model, adding that Ford NZ is keen to add the model to its line-up.

“From the moment of the announcement, we’ve been asking . Half our staff have been asking as well,” he said at the time.

“The reality is that we still have to get over the left-hand drive/right-hand drive and scale issues. The way that we’ve had to prioritise it, which I can’t criticise within the company, is that when you’ve got a limited asset it has to go where it’s most valuable. 

“There’s no plans right now for , but if we ever got the opportunity and we could make the business case work for right-hand drive then we’d be up there. But we probably need a few other markets to join [us].”