A Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck is on display at the 2022 North American International Auto Show NAIAS in Detroit, the United States, on Sept. 14, 2022.
Michael Strong | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
Ford Motor on Monday cut prices for its electric F-150 Lightning pickup, saying its efforts to boost production and lower costs for battery minerals have paid off.
Ford said prices for some of the least expensive versions of the Lighting would fall by nearly $10,000. Prices for all versions, including the top-line Platinum trim, will drop by at least $6,000 from levels set in March.
The company had increased the Lightning’s prices several times since its 2021 debut, citing supply constraints and sharply higher prices for the minerals used in the electric truck’s batteries. Ford has worked to increase production of the truck in recent months, with factory upgrades that are expected to triple its output set to be in place by fall.
The Dearborn, Michigan factory that makes the Lightning will be closed for several weeks while the production upgrades are put in place, Ford said Monday.
Increasing production of the Lightning and other Ford EVs has been a key priority for CEO Jim Farley this year. But the effort to boost production hasn’t been a smooth one. Ford sold just 4,466 Lightnings in the second quarter after a fire in a just-completed truck in February led it to shut down production for five weeks.
At the time of its 2021 debut, the lowest-priced version of the Lightning – the work-truck Pro trim – was about $40,000. That price was increased several times, hitting about $60,000 in March; Monday’s cuts reduce the entry-level truck’s sticker price to about $50,000.
The most expensive version of the Lightning, the extended-range Platinum trim, will now start at about $92,000, down from just over $98,000.
Ford is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings after the U.S. markets close on July 27.
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