Ford halts production, shipments of F-150 Lightning over possible battery issue

Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday it had stopped production and shipments of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup after discovering a potential battery issue during pre-delivery checks.

“We are not aware of any incidences of this issue in the field,” Ford spokesperson Emma Bergg said in an email. She said the production stop was issued at the start of last week.

Ford added it was investigating the matter, which was earlier reported by CNBC and first reported by Motor Authority. Shares of the automaker were down 1% in afternoon trade.

It did not provide a timeline for restart.

The battery unit of South Korea’s SK Innovation Co Ltd, SK On, supplies batteries to Ford.

“We are currently investigating the matter at the moment,” an official at SK On said in a statement.

SK On makes batteries in South Korea, China, Hungary and the United States for clients including Ford, Volkswagen AG and Hyundai Motor Co.

Shares of SK On’s parent SK Innovation on Wednesday fell as much as 3.9% to hit a near three-week low in morning trade.

Earlier this month, Ford posted disappointing quarterly results and flagged uncertainty around semiconductor chip supply.

The automaker last year added a third work crew for the electric pickup truck to capitalize on the strong demand for EV adoption.