F-150 Lightning Introduced in Norway

[rperez817]

“Yes, Norway!” F-150® Lightning® Goes Global as Ford Announces its Debut in the World’s EV Capital | Ford Media Center

 

“In my 25 years at Ford, I’ve never seen anything like the passion and demand I’m seeing from drivers right now to get behind the wheel of our F-150 Lightning. I’ve had customers literally banging on my door and pleading for us to bring the electric pickup to Norway,” said Per Gunnar Berg, managing director, Ford Norway. “F-150 Lightning is the perfect match for many customers in Norway – uniquely capable of quenching our thirst for adventure while embracing our passion for protecting the environment.”

 

 

[chucky2]

Good testing env for Ford...

[ANTAUS]

I think my favorite title has been "A Ford in the Fjords!"...it was kinda cute.  I've been reading some of the local Norweigian and Swedish sites (I speak Svenska), and they aren't sure what to do with it, a pick up truck is a bit out of the ordinary in those lands but its a positive...curious if you wish to call it that.

[Rick73]

If Lightning demand in US is greater than Ford can manufacture, why export to Norway?  Granted, Ford is increasing capacity and sales are not to start until next year, but news doesn’t seem all positive to me.

 

On bright side Norway is a good fit for BEVs (except for cold) since they are rich, vast majority of electricity comes from renewables (hydro), most citizens live in urban areas, etc.  The down side is population is smaller than that of Houston area, and many already have BEVs, so Norway seems a limited market for Lightning.  Ironically, much of their wealth is from oil and gas; and BEV ownership is still biased towards wealth.

 

 

 

[rperez817]

2 hours ago, Rick73 said:

If Lightning demand in US is greater than Ford can manufacture, why export to Norway?  Granted, Ford is increasing capacity and sales are not to start until next year, but news doesn’t seem all positive to me.

 

Could be a situation where Ford is testing the waters (or the snow ?) in how a BEV designed for the U.S. does in a European country. 

 

[Rick73]

2 hours ago, rperez817 said:

 

Could be a situation where Ford is testing the waters (or the snow ?) in how a BEV designed for the U.S. does in a European country. 

 

 

That’s a good point.  I recall Ford tested Lightning in Alaska, but testing there is not quite the same as getting them in hands of owners.

 

Alaska also has a small percentage of Norway’s population, and BEV adoption rate very low by comparison, so if wanting actual owner cold-weather data, Norway is a much larger market.
 

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2022/03/03/f-150-lightning-testing-alaska.html

 

[bzcat]

US pickup trucks (US vehicles in general) enjoys a small but robust market in the Nordic countries. Unlike much of Europe, Nordic countries tends to have wide roads and ample parking in its urban centers which is why historically, US imports have had a foothold there. For example, Ford sold Taurus wagon in the Nordic region for many years after the Granada wagon was discontinued. I spent a couple of weeks in Sweden for work a few years ago and US imports were very common. Not as common as Volvo obviously but enough that after the 3rd or 4th Ram or Mustang, I stopped counting.

 

For many year, Ford was actually a top 3 selling brand in the Nordic countries offering a combination of German and US models. Things kind of fell apart when VW and Toyota made a strong push in the region and Ford retreated. 

Edited May 1, 2023 by bzcat