Ford F-150 supply safe in Australia despite US factory fires

Ford Australia says local supply of the Ford F-150 won’t be impacted by factory fires which have disrupted production of the full-size pickup in the US.

Australian-delivered F-150s are built at the Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan, before being remanufactured to right-hand drive in Melbourne ahead of customer deliveries via local Ford dealers.

Two separate fires at a New York plant in the past seven months – which supplies aluminium to Ford for F-150 production – have significantly impacted supplies of North America’s best-selling vehicle, according to Automotive News.

“It’s a heap of a mess – outside of COVID, I’ve never seen an F-150 shortage like this,” Nick Anderson, general manager of Chuck Anderson Ford in Kansas, told Automotive News.

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Regular supply of the F-150 in the US isn’t expected to resume until the second half of 2026.

Ford Australia told CarExpert the disruption won’t affect local availability for dealers or customers, as it rolls out the updated F-150 range – the first refresh since the extra-large pickup returned to Ford Australia showrooms in 2023.

A spokesperson said Ford’s local arm imports F-150 vehicles in bulk ahead of conversion, and that there are no supply issues for the updated model.

Australian showrooms are now receiving the updated F-150, including a new flagship Platinum grade, though it still isn’t the latest specification offered in the US.

The F-150 was the slowest-selling of the four full-size pickups officially sold in Australia in 2025, largely due to a stop-delivery order between July and October.

Last year the Toyota Tundra found 837 new homes, slightly more than the F-150’s 792, with sales of the Blue Oval brand’s largest dual-cab model down 67.4 per cent on its 2024 total of 2428.

Excluding larger (HD and 2500/3500) derivatives, the Ram 1500 was Australia’s favourite full-size pickup in 2025 with 2674 examples sold, ahead of the Chevrolet Silverado (2209).

Despite the supply disruption, the F-150 remained the top-selling model in the US in the first three months of 2026 with 157,841 sales, ahead of the Silverado and the third-placed Honda CR-V.

That figure excludes just over 2000 sales of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup, which is not officially sold in Australia.

The result is down around 14 per cent on the same period in 2025, when the F-150 recorded 190,389 sales and faced increased competition, with a 27 per cent spike in Ram 1500 sales last year. MORE: Explore the Ford F-150 showroom