Ford has lowered the price of its electric pickup truck

Ford Motor Co. has slashed the price of its electric pickup truck, the F-150 Lightning, by between $6,000 and $10,000 at a time when major automakers are competing fiercely for the attention of electric vehicle shoppers.

company officials He said Monday that access to raw materials for the truck’s battery is improving and that it has upgraded the suburban Detroit plant where the truck is made, enabling it to lower prices. Ford said these developments also mean customers will get their custom-ordered F-150 Lightning faster.

“Soon after the launch of the F-150 Lightning, rapidly increasing material costs, supply constraints and other factors increased the cost of the EV truck for Ford and our customers,” said Marin Gaja, chief customer officer for Ford’s electric vehicle line. a permit. “We have continued to work in the background to improve accessibility and affordability to help lower prices for our customers and shorten wait times for their new F-150 Lightning truck.”

Monday’s Ford price cuts are partially reversing Frequent hikes in 2022 and early 2023, which the automaker blamed on rising materials costs.

Ford offers seven variants of the F-150 Lightning, including Pro, Platinum Extended Range and Lariat. The F-150 Lightning Pro, the car’s lowest-cost model, is now $49,995, which is a $9,979 price reduction from its last price. The Platinum Extended Edition, the most expensive version, costs $91,995, a decrease of $6,079.

The cost of other models (including lower prices) is:

• XLT 311A ​​is $54,995 ($9,479)
• XLT 312A is $59,995 ($8,479)
• The XLT 312A Extended Range is $69,995 ($8,879)
• Lariat 510A price is $69,995 ($6,979)
• The extended range for the Lariat is $77,495 ($8,479)

Ford said that once the F-150 Lightning plant in Dearborn, Michigan, completes its final round of upgrades, expected this fall, workers there will be able to produce 150,000 trucks annually.

With the number of electric vehicle options booming, automakers are using price cuts as a strategy to win the loyalty of customers interested in buying a greener vehicle. The F-150 Lightning, which Ford first introduced in April 2021, is one of eight electric cars eligible for the full $7,500 tax. credit.

Ford’s latest price cut comes three months after electric rival Tesla Lowered the price of a mid-size sedan. Tesla also said Saturday that it has completed building its first electric truck — the Cybertruck, which is expected to attract the same customers as Rivian’s R1T and F-150 Lightning truck.

Another factor motivating Ford to cut prices may be that company officials are “hearing footsteps of the Cybertruck and others like Rivian coming,” Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, said in a research note Monday.

Ford is betting big on the F-150 Lightning, investment Millions of dollars on a new facility for a car that was already named 2023 MotorTrend Truck of the Year. When company officials first announced the truck in 2021, Demand rose quickly The pre-order list surpassed 100,000 within three weeks. The company plans to deliver 600,000 trucks this year.

Ford stopped reporting monthly sales figures for the Lightning in January. company He said It sold 4,466 Lightnings in the second quarter, up from 4,291 in the first quarter. Ford temporarily Production paused on Lightning in February After finding a battery problem.