Ford Motor Co. on Monday reduced prices for its F-150 Lightning electric pickups by about $6,000 to $10,000, depending on trim, citing lower material costs and higher production capacity.
The price cuts could help the company maintain strong sales when most electric vehicle inventories are rising as production levels outstrip demand. They follow more price cuts by Tesla, which remains the leading EV seller despite increasing competition from Ford, General Motors and others.
Ford on Monday said the cheapest Lightning model, the commercial-focused Pro trim, now will start at $51,990 including shipping. That’s still 25 percent more expensive than the truck was when it launched in April 2022.
The highest-priced trim, the extended-range Platinum model, now starts at $93,990 including shipping, down $6,079.
Ford had raised Lightning prices multiple times, most recently in March, before Monday’s cuts undid some of those actions.
“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,” Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer for Ford’s EV unit, said in a statement. “We’ve continued to work in the background to improve accessibility and affordability to help lower prices for our customers and shorten the wait times for their new F-150 Lightning.”
The automaker said retail customers who configure and order XLT, Lariat or Platinum models through their dealer or online before the end of July will receive an extra $1,000 discount.
Customers can also qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit, as long as they meet certain criteria.
Ford CEO Jim Farley has previously cautioned against price cuts, calling them a “worrying trend” that risks commoditizing products and angering customers.
“The more you cut the prices, when you cut them aggressively, the resale value for people who bought at higher prices is awful,” Farley said in May at a Wall Street Journal conference. “And those people never forget.”
Ford has also reduced the price of its Mustang Mach-E crossover, although Farley said it was in response to Tesla’s Model Y cuts and that “there’s a limit to how far we’ll go.”
Ford said the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, the Dearborn, Mich., plant where the Lightning is built, is closed for an expansion project that will allow for an annual production run rate of 150,000 by the end of the year. It was not immediately clear how long the plant would be down.