Ford is lowering the manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) of its battery-electric truck, the F-150 Lightning, by about $10,000. The move comes as rumors on the internet swirl that Ford is having electric vehicle (EV) sales troubles.
The mass market brand of Ford Motor Company said in a release that the price changes are directly related to "increased plant capacity, continued work on scaling production and cost, and improving battery raw material costs."
However, there's some skepticism among industry analysts that the move isn't just a ploy to boost sagging EV sales. The number of days supply of Ford EVs on lots is increasing, especially for the Mustang Mach-E electric crossover.
"While EV market share growth will continue, it will ebb and flow like any other market. A natural supply and demand correction has EV inventories starting to stack up across the industry. We expect to see more price cuts and incentives come into play as automakers work to balance production and demand as a flood of new EV nameplates compete in a young EV market," Paul Waatti, manager of industry analysis at AutoPacific told Newsweek.
However, the company's sales results from the end of the first half of 2023 give investors a reason to be optimistic. F-150 Lightning sales were up 119 percent in Q2 2023 versus Q2 2022, and a 4.1 percent gain on Q1.
"F-150 Lightning has been available in limited supply until now. As we scale, we can take advantage of increased plant capacity, continued work on scaling production and cost, and improving battery raw material costs to help lower the MSRP of F-150 Lightning for all customers," a spokesperson for Ford told Newsweek.
The company stopped work on the F-150 Lightning in February to investigate the cause of a fire that occurred in one Lightning truck. Production restarted in March.
Ford's Rogue Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, home to F-150 Lightning production, is currently closed to complete final plant upgrades that were scheduled as part of a ramp up toward a 150,000 annual run rate of the pickups. It closed in June.
Those upgrades, combined with improving battery raw materials costs, Ford says, are part of the equation that is allowing them to lower the cost of the truck.
Additionally, the upgrades will allow Ford to offer customers greater availability of built-to-order trucks as early as October "at an MSRP closer to initial Lightning pricing" the release states.
"Shortly after launching the F-150 Lightning, rapidly rising material costs, supply constraints and other factors drove up the cost of the EV truck for Ford and our customers," said Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer at Ford Model E, the company's electrified vehicles division.
"We've continued to work in the background to improve accessibility and affordability to help to lower prices for our customers and shorten the wait times for their new F-150 Lightning."
The base model Ford F-150 Lightning Pro changes in price from $59,974 to $49,995, a reduction of $9,979. The Ford F-150 Lightning XLT 311A and XLT 312A are reduced $9,479 and $8,479, respectively. The XLT 312A Extended Range drops to $69,995 from $78,874.
Pricier versions of the F-150 Lightning also get a cost reduction. The Lightning Lariat 510A moves to $69,995 and the Lariat Extended Range is down to $77,795, nearly $7,000 and $8,500 off previous MSRPs, respectively.
The top-tier F-150 Lightning Platinum Extended Range has its sticker price changed from $98,074 to $91,995.
The $1,995 destination and delivery charge for every truck remains unchanged.
Ford isn't the only automaker changing pricing of its models. Tesla continues to fluctuate its vehicle MSRPs, and the move has meant success for the company, with sales up around 30 percent this year through the end of June 2023 compared to the same time period in 2022.
"Tesla has usurped the traditional retail paradigm in myriad ways, including pricing variations outside of traditional model year changes," Chad Kircher, vice president of content at EV Pulse, told Newsweek.
"Tesla is comfortable raising and lowering prices depending on market conditions, resource availability, and even sales targets at any time. The company will do this even if it risks alienating a recent buyer who woke up one morning with the vehicle they just purchased significantly less expensive than when they purchased it the day before."
Ford has taken another page out of Tesla's book, announcing that early next year customers will be able to purchase an adapter that makes their Ford able to use Tesla's Supercharge network, which has a different type of plug.
