Ford (F) has increased the price of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup for the first time in two months.
This time it’s just the base Pro model, but the roughly 11% price increase brings the base model from $46,974 to $51,974 before federal or state tax credits.
“Due to continued supply chain constraints, rising material costs and other market factors, Ford is adjusting the suggested retail price of the 2023 F-150 Lightning Pro,” Ford said in a statement. Ford added that retail orders currently waiting for delivery, as well as current commercial and government customers with “scheduled orders,” will not be affected by the price increase.
This is similar to what Ford used for customers who had existing orders and delivery dates in August when Ford increased prices by $6,000 and $8,500 depending on trim level across the F-150 Lightning range. A similar pricing policy. If a customer places a pre-order but has no delivery date, the new price applies to that customer.
When Ford debuted the F-150 Lightning and said the base Pro model would have a suggested retail price of under $40,000, Ford’s use of engineering know-how, manufacturing efficiencies, and deep suppliers could be a bow and arrow to the EV race. was. A relationship to win on price.
Reality now seems to get in the way of Ford’s pricing strategy.
“Being able to launch the model with a $40,000 price tag has generated a lot of media buzz, but that price was clearly not sustainable at today’s rate of inflation, especially when it comes to battery materials,” says Sam. Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, told Yahoo Finance. “Supply chain problems and global inflation are forcing all manufacturers to reassess their prices. I was forced to
As for whether Ford miscalculated its pricing strategy against competitors such as GM (GM) and Tesla (TSLA), Fiorani believes no automaker has handled it well.
“Price pressure is across the industry. Tesla recently raised prices, but GM backed off, saying Equinox will be below $30,000. [and] Now they say it will be ‘around $30,000,'” he said. “Inflation has hit the industry hard since Ford announced the Lightning price. It was just bad timing to release the Lightning at this time.”
That said, Fiorani believes the Lightning is “the perfect vehicle for Ford to absorb some of these additional costs.” This is due to high demand from early adopters, low vehicle inventory and limited factory space required to produce more of the Lightning. .
But it’s not all bad news for Ford. Fiorani said those price increases will help Ford further fund its transition to EVs, possibly helping it develop cheaper EVs in the future.
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Pras Subramanian is Senior Automotive Reporter at Yahoo Finance.you can follow him twitter and Instagram.
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