Ford Motor Co. on Monday cut the price of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck from $6,000 to nearly $10,000, the latest sign of weak demand for electric vehicles.
The price cuts come as a growing inventory of unsold electric vehicles in dealer lots comes on the heels of several discounts from Tesla, the leading electric vehicle distributor. .
Ford has cut prices this year after suspending truck production to refurbish assembly lines and ramp up output. By the fall, the company expects to be able to produce 150,000 Lightnings a year at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center near Detroit, triple his current capacity.
Competition in the electric vehicle business is heating up. Tesla announced Saturday that it has begun production of its long-delayed Cybertruck pickup truck, and General Motors will soon start delivering an electric version of its Chevrolet Silverado truck.
Ford will begin production of the Lightning in the spring of 2022, and has raised prices a total of about $20,000 several times due to rising battery material costs. At the time, demand far exceeded Ford’s production, and some dealers were charging thousands of dollars above the company’s suggested retail price.
“Shortly after the launch of the F-150 Lightning, rapidly rising material costs, supply constraints and other factors drove up the cost of EV trucks for Ford and our customers,” said the company’s chief customer officer for electric vehicles. Malin Jaja said. “We have been working in the background to improve accessibility to lower prices and reduce wait times for our customers.”
According to Ford, the F-150 Lightning Pro model has a list price of $49,995, down $9,979. His XLT 312A model with a long-range battery was his $8,879 markdown to $69,995. The top-of-the-line Platinum Extended Range model sells for $91,995, $6,079 less than last week.
As a result of the price cut, most Lightning models cost less than $80,000 and are eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit granted by President Biden’s ambitious climate change law, the Controlled Inflation Act.
To further stimulate demand, Ford is also offering a $1,000 discount to shoppers who custom order certain models through dealers through July 31st. Ford’s credit department also offers a 1.9% loan on a 36-month loan.
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