The Ford Motor Co. has posted the second price increase for the base level Pro trim of the F-150 Lightning. The price hike means the least-expensive Lightning is priced at more than $50,000.
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Since its announcement early last year, the Ford F-150 Lightning has been one of the hottest-selling marques in the automotive world. It was also one of the more reasonable all-electric pickup alternatives, with its base model having a price in the upper-$30s.
Two Significant Price Hikes Announced
Those days are gone. According to various TV and online sources such as AutoEvolution.com (AE), Ford has announced two significant price increases. The first price increase for the 2023 F-150 Lightning was about $7,000. That announcement came two months ago. And, just this week, the automaker announced another price hike for the electric pickup. According to AE, citing "worsening market conditions," Ford has added another $5,000 price increase on top of the first. The price hike applies, at this time, to the base Pro trim. It also "represents an almost 11 percent increase over the current price.
AE notes that "inflation and scarcity pushed the prices up for almost everything … car parts made no exception." It also turned into a situation where electric vehicles, which were supposed to become more affordable as more carmakers jumped on the bandwagon, have ", in fact, becoming more expensive."
Honestly, as AE notes, the "dream of an affordable EV is poised to remain a dream, although the economy of scale comes into play. That's because battery raw materials are more expensive than ever, and car suppliers raise their prices like everyone else."
EVs Affected By Raw Material Prices
AE notes further that the price of every vehicle is higher, including the price of used ones. "But EVs have been more affected than others because battery materials have seen the steepest price increase." AE noted that Tesla, a leading electric vehicle maker, saw this trend developing. As it developed, Tesla raised prices. Rivian followed it.
On the other side, GM cut the price of the Chevy Bolt to the point where its pricing was almost the same as internal-combustion vehicles.
Ford, "which reported stellar sales results for its electric vehicles in the third quarter," raised the price of the F-150 Lightning pickup in August. The price increases spread through the entire Lightning lineup. Prices increased "by as much as $8,500 in the case of the XLT High/Extended Range trim," Also, the Pro trim saw a $7,000 hike from the former MSRP of $39,974 – an increase of nearly 20 percent.
Now, just two months later, Ford has upped the price of its base-level Pro trim truck again. "This makes the most affordable electric pickup in Ford's lineup (and on the market) less affordable than ever. At $51,749, the 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro is still cheaper than the Rivian R1T." The Rivian R1T has a base price of $73,000.
' Ongoing Supply Chain Constraints'
Quoting Reuters, AE noted that the "price increase was decided upon in response to 'ongoing supply chain constraints, rising material costs, and other market factors.' The price hike won't affect those with already scheduled orders, including commercial and government customers."
Marc Stern has been an automotive writer since 1971 when an otherwise normal news editor said, "You're our new car editor," and dumped about 27 pounds of auto stuff on my desk. I was in heaven as I have been a gearhead from my early days. As a teen, I spent the usual number of misspent hours hanging out at gas stations Shell and Texaco (a big thing in my youth) and working on cars. From there on, it was a straight line to my first column for the paper, "You Auto Know," an enterprise I handled faithfully for 32 years. Not many people know that I also handled computer documentation for a good part of my living while writing YAN. My best writing, though, was always in cars. My work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated, AutoWeek, SuperStock, Trailer Life, Old Cars Weekly, Special Interest Autos, etc. You can follow me on: Twitter or Facebook.
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