Ford Looks to Europe for F-150 Lightning Sales

Ford is hoping European markets will pick up the sales slack of its struggling battery-electric pickup truck with the first delivery of a Ford F-150 Lightning to the BEV-savvy Norwegian market.

New customer Dag Ødegaard from Lier, Norway, becomes the first in the country to take delivery of the truck after falling in love with Ford F-Series trucks while traveling in the U.S.

Flying the flag for U.S. products, he owns a store that sells American grill and barbecue equipment and his wife hails from Texas. He says, “Finally we don't have to drive two cars to transport two teenage children, my wife and all our luggage to our cabin in (the ski town of) Trysil.”

While sales of the F-150 Lightning are flagging in its domestic market, the automaker is hoping for a better reception on the Continent. A Ford spokesman says Norway is the first country outside the U.S. to start deliveries of the truck, with BEV-friendly Switzerland to follow.

Per Gunnar Berg, CEO of Ford Motor Norway, says: “This is an important day for Ford in Norway. As the first country outside America to get F-150 Lightning, we get the opportunity to deliver one of the most talked-about electric vehicles in the world in recent years to our customers. We look forward to going full throttle to give even more Norwegians the opportunity to experience an all-electric truck unlike anything else on offer here.”