Australian EV conversion firm collapses, Ford blamed

The parent company of AUSEV has gone into receivership, and Ford’s revised global strategy has been given the blame.

Established in 2012 in Queensland, BossCap is the owner of AUSEV, best known for importing electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickups and converting them to right-hand drive in Brendale, Queensland. The subsidiary claims Brisbane Airport and BHP among its customers.

In a statement issued to Yahoo Finance, BossCap – the company behind AUSEV and Advanced Manufacturing Queensland – put the blame at the feet of the Blue Oval, citing “sudden change in global production strategy from Ford”.

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Ford confirmed it had axed the F-150 Lightning in mid-December 2025, after less than four years in production.

The Blue Oval's decision to kill off the F-150 Lightning was said to be part of a strategic switch on battery-powered vehicles – with the US car giant instead focusing on developing electric models with petrol generators, better known as extended-range electric vehicles (EREV).

Despite “strong market interest and growing sales”, the receivers claimed the inability to supply vehicles had “significantly disrupted the company’s forward pipeline”.

While the F-150 is sold in Australia by Ford, the automaker only offers petrol-powered variants – with AUSEV evolving to become an importer and conversion firm, focusing solely on selling the electric F-150 Lightning to fleet customers.

Just a day before BossCap was placed into receivership, AUSEV posted an image of customers taking delivery of their F-150 Lightnings, advertising the pickup from $109,990 before on-road costs.

“Just a few recent customer deliveries, and many more to come,” a social media post read, suggesting many in the organisation were unaware of the impending shutdown.

It's understood about 100 staff are affected.

“The F-150 Lightning is arriving across Australia, driving a genuine shift in the future of trucks,” the post said.

Within days, creditors of BossCap had initiated the receivership process – which differs from a voluntary administration.

“We regret to advise that the BossCap Group was placed into receivership on 17 March 2026,” the receivers said in a statement issued to Yahoo Finance.

“Accordingly, operations have been suspended whilst the receivers undertake an assessment of the business. At this stage, BossCap is unable to undertake warranty repair works.”

AUSEV was formerly known as AUSMV, before rebranding as it shifted its focus to EVs.

BossCap's SCD Remanufactured Vehicles subsidiary – which previously imported and converted various combustion-powered American vehicles including the Ram 1500 to right-hand drive – ended local conversions in March 2024.

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