Ford has started to deliver the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, but some dealers are taking advantage of the demand. One of them was spotted doubling the price of the electric pickup by adding a $69,000 markup.
As we previously reported, Ford has about 200,000 reservations for the electric pickup truck, and its dealers are currently trying to convert those reservations into orders.
With Ford reportedly planning to produce only about 40,000 units this year before ramping up production to 150,000 units next year, there’s a lot more demand for the F-150 Lightning than what Ford can deliver in the near future.
Some Ford dealers have been taking advantage of that demand by charging extremely high “market adjustment” prices on top of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. We previously tracked some of those premiums and saw some as high as $30,000.
But now we’ve seen a listing that beats that record. An F-150 Lightning Forum user found a unit marked up by $69,000 at Gary Smith Ford in Fort Walton Beach, Florida:
As you can see, this markup doubles the price of the F150 Lightning electric pickup.
Earlier this year, Ford warned dealers about engaging in these practices, but the automaker has limited power when it comes to controlling dealership price. The automaker can limit the F-150 Lighting allocation, the number of units it delivers to those dealers, if they mark them up too much.
More recently, Ford also told dealers not to sell F-150 Lightning demo vehicles too quickly, or they will face fines.
Electrek’s Take
CEO Jim Farley went a little further last week and said that Ford might eventually change its distribution model for electric vehicles and aim for uniform pricing everywhere – a model that Tesla has pioneered.
It might be difficult to implement this approach since Ford is carrying the baggage of its giant dealership network, but it looks like markups are becoming so much of a disadvantage that they’re a project worth taking on.
I hope they figure it out because these kinds of marks up are insane. I hope no one buys the vehicle at that price.
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