Ford cuts F-150 Lightning production as CEO Jim Farley shifts strategic focus to hybrids and affordable EVs, taking massive $19.5 billion charge.

The Detroit auto giant said on Monday it would pull back from electric vehicles in a move that would cost the company nearly $20 billion.

Ford says it is "following the customer" in discontinuing its large electric pickup, which was well-received but never profitable. Ford will keep the Lightning name alive as a plug-in hybrid.

Ford Motor Co. unveiled changes to its long-term strategy Monday, announcing a major redeployment of capital into new vehicle programs, hybrid technology and a rapidly expanding battery-storage business as the automaker adjusts to shifting consumer demand and market pressures.

By Nora Eckert Dec 15 (Reuters) - Ford Motor said on Monday it will take a $19.5 billion writedown and is killing several electric-vehicle models, in the most dramatic example yet of the auto industry's retreat from battery-powered models in response to the Trump administration's policies and weakening EV demand.

Several months ago, Ford CEO Jim Farley said ending the nearly two-decade-long EV tax credit would halve America’s electric-vehicle market. Now his company is facing its own reality check.

The end of the best-selling electric pickup truck is here: Ford is pulling the plug on the F-150 Lightning by the end of the year. It’s not dead dead, but the next version of the Lightning will be an extended range electric vehicle, known as an EREV. Ford is positioning it as the “next-generation.”

Ford announced a series of moves in its EV business, pivoting to a hybrid and extended-range EV strategy instead of full EVs, and will take a whopping $19.5 billion in charges related to the move.