Bill Ford Says F-150 Lightning 'Most Important' Launch Of His Career

Ford Motor Co F Chairman Bill Ford sees the F-150 Lightning truck as a better and more capable successor to its traditional variant and called it the “most important” launch of his career in an interview with The Detroit News on Monday.

What Happened: Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford is scheduled to launch the battery-powered variant of its best-selling truck on Tuesday afternoon.

“This has been a personal journey of mine since I joined the company 43 years ago,” Ford, the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, was quoted as saying. 

“And it sort of all culminates on Tuesday with the launch of this vehicle. So I think in many ways, it's for me, anyway, the most important launch of my career.”

The 64-year-old Ford said he does not plan to “step back” from his current role shortly.

See Also: Ford CEO Jim Farley Teases F-150 Lightning EV As Launch Set For April 26

Why It Matters: Ford said the launch will be streamed live from its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, where the electric truck is assembled. 

The automaker said earlier this year it would nearly double the production capacity of F-150 Lightning pickups to 150,000 vehicles per year to meet growing demand. The model is expected to be a competitor to Tesla Inc's TSLA hotly anticipated Cybertruck.

The automaker has nearly 200,000 reservations, excluding fleet reservations.

F-150 Lightning is Ford’s first big move towards electrification after it launched the Mustang Mach-E in December 2020.

See Also: Ford Says Nearing 200,000 F-150 Lightning Reservations, Order Bank Opening Soon

The EV pickup will go on sale at a ticket price of $39,974 and more for the base model, and a range of 230 miles for the standard version.

Price Action: Ford closed 1% higher at $15.2 on Monday.