By Michael Elkins
American automaker, Ford (NYSE:F) announced Thursday that the company will be launching its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck in Norway as it hopes to tap into high demand for electric vehicles globally.
In response to "overwhelming public demand" from Norwegian consumers, the F-150 Lightning will reach the country in 2024 as a special Lariat Launch Edition model. Customers in Norway, the world’s most progressive market for EV adoption, are the first outside of the U.S. and Canada able to apply to purchase a strictly limited number of special F‑150 Lightning models.
“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.”
Ford last month also unveiled the new all-electric Explorer medium crossover for customers in Europe, one of ten electric vehicles the company is introducing by 2024 including the Mustang Mach-E, for which customers in Norway account for 22% of European sales.
“Ford is pushing the boundaries of electric vehicles like only we can,” said Martin Sander, general manager, Ford Model e, Europe. “Rugged and capable like the F-Series models that have topped the sales charts for decades, but injected with technologies of the future, F-150 Lightning is the smartest F-150 we’ve ever made and the perfect demonstration of how going all-in on electric is helping our vehicles become more Ford than ever before.”
Shares of F are down 4.66% in early trading on Thursday.