I only skimmed the article after it showed up on my news feed.

Headline: Ford hikes starting price of its electric F-150 Lightning pickup for second time in less than two months

Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/05/ford...to-51974-.html

 

That is indeed what’s being reported

https://www.thedrive.com/news/2023-f...jor-price-hike

 

MSRP hikes are one thing, how have real sales figures been impacted with those being put in place?

At some point Ford will price themselves out of the market, IMHO anyway.

 

It appears MSRP is going to be the price as Ford changes how they do business, at least when it comes to EV's.

Link: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post20556780

In that thread, Tom wrote the following, which I agree with:
I was surprised to see the second price hike so quickly...

 

I was thinking about a Lightning order next year but between the 2 price increases it will not happen for me. I will probably continue to drive my 2013 F150 or purchase a used truck. The value at the new Lightning pricing just isn't there for me. What are you thoughts on value at the new announced pricing?

 

In my opinion they are doing the classic bait and switch... All this hype and anticipation built up for a F-150 EV at the initial price. Then, due to economic conditions and inflation, the price goes up significantly shortly after release to the public. Then, a couple of months later, the price goes up again...

I have seen other EV prices go up as well, but most are not as much as the Lightning. That doesn't meant that on Sunday at midnight they won't release new pricing, but as of yet they have not.

For my application and family, this only means that an EV is another year or three out of reach for us. Based on the current mileage, recharge times and prices, it just doesn't work for our budget, lifestyle or projected adventures through and around this great nation we call home.

 

A few people have even saying it was a bait and switch all along, but whenever they said it, they were ridiculed as being paranoid and “not with it” and were told to “go back to horses and buggies” even though it was clear ford was just following the Tesla Model 3 playbook that already played out.

 

• Ford confirmed to Car and Driver that the F-150 Lightning will see an additional price hike for the 2023 model year.
• The base Pro model will now start at $53,769, including the $1795 destination fee, while the top Platinum model will reach north of $97,000.
• Ford says the price increase is the result of supply chain issues and higher material costs, likely for the metals used to make the electric truck’s battery.
• The base Lightning Pro, which originally started at $41,769 for the 2022 model year, will now start north of $50,000. ($53,769) This equated to a $12,000 price increase! You can call it two increases, or you can call it 50 increased, whatever they [ford] call it, it is $12,000 to the buyer! That WAY outpaces inflation!!!!! Those that called it bait and switch, and were ridiculed, look like they knew what they were talking about! My bet, we won't see any retractions! That may require those calling the names to man-up.

 

yep, you nailed it. Last time I posted about the previous increase certain people said that people alarmed at the price increase of 7k+ were just first world problems. I’m sure they will have some choice words this time around to play down this round of increase and blame it on the usual excuses.

 

I read about this yesterday, and it’s really disappointing. Ford had a really rough quarter with rising component costs, and they’re trying to leverage their pricing power with the Lightning to mitigate that. I get it, but it also makes it a much less attractive option. At $40K, the Pro was a great value. Much less so at $53K.

At this point, the cheapest long-range option is about $80K. At this point, it’s competing against the Rivian for a shade less, and it’s a MUCH nicer truck for the money albeit a bit smaller. At the 2021 pricing, I could see the purchase making sense. But with current prices, I can’t imagine a situation where one will end up in my driveway. Especially when GM is doubling down on affordability with the lower-priced Bolt, $30K Equinox announced after Ford’s price hikes, and typical 2023 price increases for the rest of the market. Tesla’s prices haven’t moved in the last year, and commodity prices for steel and many others are going down.

I don’t begrudge Ford for their move, but the value just isn’t there anymore in relation to much better options out there.

 

I track Li, and believe it is a great place to take a long-term position, I don't believe we've seen the biggest moves in the market, nor even beginning to get close to the worldwide market price in the next 24 months. Add some of the tax breaks that require "must be US Made" (I agree with 100%), the battery is the key, not the vehicle. The mfg. that can figure out the battery for the EV market, will be in the driver's seat. Toyota's Solid-State patents, and their current, on the road prototypes, look to be the most promising, the current wet bats are already antique technology-so far as science is concerned. God Bless those buying a new, out of date, before it was even built, truck, as their investment will be a poor one. I too understand why ford is now pricing the Lightning at a price that will make a lot of potential buyers to keep walking, they realize they are going to need a lot more cash in the near future. This can be seen with the large number of layoffs, the price hikes, etc. The new plants ford is building, go through a lot of cash, quickly, they have 100% CASH going in, and no product coming out, until they are finished, and producing. Ford has made a lot of big mistakes, pricing, releases that went really bad (bronco for example), a JIT production model that was so JIT it has left them with over a billion dollars' worth of rolling stock they can't sell due to a lack of parts-many from a large oriental country. The JIT models that are successful, ensure the suppliers can and will deliver, In Time, When this is stretched across the sea, and you are forced to deal with a different type of govt, than we are comfortable with, one that sees delivering a set of bearing as a political act, keeping to the JIT philosophy starts walking a razors edge. Whatever "savings" ford has made this year by using foreign suppliers, will have vanished in the 4th quarter, if they can't get their S&^* together! 4 billion shares of ford -so many held in 401s and similar type instruments, the poor decisions cost 10's of millions of Americans, a lot of money. This size of price hike, IMHO, will not help ford, it will drive away buyers to the point that profit(s) made on the higher priced goods will be less than otherwise. I do have one big, But, but if ford is able to get the fed govt. to buy 50,000 lightnings for postal vehicles/military transport/etc. etc. they may be able to pull it off. I hope they Do Not need to go down this road, as once again every American Taxpayer will be bailing out a car company. I'm keeping my eye on the Maverick, was this a bait and switch price structure also? If, so, I believe this may be telling, as the Mexican made unibody truck would not suffer the same "supply chain" costs as the American made EV.

 

^^^^ Dude you really really need to acquaint yourself with paragraphs!!!!!!!! Your contributions make for good reading most times but these walls of text need to be more "eye friendly"!

It would seem Ford is betting much of their branded EV "success" in the pick up truck segment on the F-150 Lightning with justifications for price hike beginning to alarm and anger those seeking more cost friendly vehicles. Is the Lightning so appealing it can survive customer dissatisfaction over cost?

As I've said before I'm not in the market for any new vehicle but antics like Ford's pricing of recent months would have me backing away from the brand if its more of the same old, same old product I could find at a more fair price with another manufacturer.

The build-to-order idea is good IF parts are available to quickly deliver a vehicle in a reasonable time. How is Ford doing in that area---what's the average or normal wait time after an order is placed? How is the competition performing in that same area?

Perhaps the era of dealer lots full of ready-to-sell new vehicles and expected MSRP discounts is coming to an end?

 

I think Ford is going to have to go back to basics and fill the lots to sell in volume if they are to remain viable and fund the EV initiatives.

 

I think we're finally getting back to that point. A quick look at the local McMega dealer in my area shows they have 54 F150s on the lot. They had over 100 when I bought my F150 from them back in 2015, and more in the years in between before the supply crunch happened. Another big dealer conglomerate lists all of their inventory on their main site. Some of their brands like Chevrolet and Hyundai have over 200 vehicles in stock across their dealer network, but each of those brands has a franchise at more than one location in this network.

New cars are finally coming back in stock, but things have a ways to go before we're back to normal.

 

As the DSI grows (some mfg such as GM are already at or above 45) closer to 45, we will see plenty of new cars and pickup trucks for sale, this quarter. The Price of used cars is about to take a nosedive, bad news for those that purchased a used vehicle that was overpriced, good news for the used car buyer this quarter. Naturally, the exact car/truck you may be looking for may not be on your dealer's lot; however, the fact that there are plenty of new cars and trucks for sale-NATIONWIDE, will help keep the pricing down. I know there will be someone that has a special f450SD on order, with a list of equipment they must have, and it's not on their dealer's lot, of course I'm not talking about the one offs, or special order, or low volume models, my observations have to do with the total number of new cars and trucks available for sale in the US. Most experts (financial writers) that follow the automotive field have predicted this for 3-4 months and warned against buying any new vehicle with a dealer add on. Some people paid attention to their warnings some did not.