DETROIT, April 11 (Reuters) - Ford said on

Thursday it will begin shipping to North American dealers

144,000 of its redesigned F-150 and Ranger pickup trucks that it

built but held back until now in an effort to head off quality

problems.

Ford said it also will restart shipments this month of F-150

Lightning electric trucks which it had halted in February. Ford

this week cut prices of some variants of the Lightning by as

much as $5,500.

The wave of large F-150s, Ford's best-selling model, and

mid-size Ranger trucks will be critical for Ford to hit its 2024

pre-tax profit target of $10 billion to $12 billion. The

automaker reaffirmed that target last month.

The delay in sending the trucks to dealers could hit the

automaker's first quarter numbers due April 24.

Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler told investors last

month the company had 60,000 F-150s in stock it expected to ship

in the current quarter.

The automaker first tried a go-slow approach to vehicle

launches last year at its Kentucky Truck complex that builds

Super Duty pickups and Navigator large SUVs. Ford paid out

nearly $4.8 billion to cover warranty repairs in 2023, according

to its annual report.

In the case of the redesigned F-150s, Ford engineers

analyzing data from trucks held in stock discovered that certain

electronic components did not shut off, or were using more power

than expected, Ford said. "Engineers updated the problematic

software before any trucks left the plant," the company said in

a statement.

Ford shares were up 8 cents a share, or less than 1%, at

$13.14 a share in afternoon trading on the New York Stock

Exchange.