The Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck is seen at the 2022 North American International Auto Show NAIAS in Detroit, USA on September 14, 2022.
Michael Strong | Xinhua | Getty Images
Ford Motor Co cut prices on its electric F-150 Lightning pickup on Monday, saying its efforts to increase production and lower battery mineral costs have paid off.
Some of the cheapest versions of the Lighting will drop by nearly $10,000, Ford said. Prices for all editions, including the top-of-the-line Platinum, will drop by at least $6,000 from levels set in March.
The company has raised prices on Lightning several times since its debut in 2021, citing supply constraints and a sharp rise in the price of the mineral used in electric truck batteries. Ford has been working to increase truck production in recent months, with factory upgrades expected to be in place in the fall that will triple production.
Ford said on Monday that its Dearborn, Mich., plant, which makes the Lightning, will be closed for several weeks while production ramps up.
Increasing production of the Lightning and other Ford EVs has been Chief Executive Jim Farley’s top priority this year. But efforts to boost production have not gone well. Ford sold just 4,466 Lightnings in the second quarter after a truck it just completed caught fire in February, causing the company to suspend production for five weeks.
The lowest-priced version of the Lightning — the Work Truck Pro — will cost around $40,000 when it debuts in 2021. That price has risen several times, reaching about $60,000 in March; Monday’s price cut brings the entry-level truck’s sticker price down to about $50,000.
The most expensive Lightning version (the Extended Range Platinum) now starts at around $92,000, down from just over $98,000.
Ford is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings on July 27 after U.S. markets close.
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