Following the trend of most electric vehicles, the 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning racked up another price increase due to ongoing supply chain constraints, rising material costs, and inflationary factors, the company announced on Dec. 16 amid wide media coverage.
The F-150 Lightning started at a budget-friendly MSRP of $39,947 when Ford officially unveiled it in August of 2021. Now, a third price increase as put it at $55,974, an increase of 40% since its launch and $4,000 over the last price level that scrapes the strata of the luxury vehicle pricing category. In November 2022, the average luxury buyer paid $67,050 for a new vehicle — a record high and up $405 from October, according to a report about all new vehicle prices on Vehicle Remarketing.
The Ford price hike does not affect previous and pending orders from commercial and government fleet customers as well as those from retail consumers, Ford said.
The Lightning price increase was announced with increases for other F-150 models, as reported by Automotive Fleet: The 2023 gas-powered Ford F-150 XL starts at $33,695 MSRP, an increase of $2,175 over the 2022-MY XL model. The XLT starts at $41,800, while the Lariat starts at $57,480. The 2023 F-150 has eight trim levels in all, with the priciest Raptor starting at $76,775. Prices do not include destination charges.
For fleets look to electrify their operations, the added costs challenge budgets, but so far the F-150 order banks are drawing strong demand despite price increases, according to a report on Work Truck.
Reviews on the F-150 Lightning Pro so far have been positive, generating excitement at the prospect of fleets being able to save on future total cost of ownership of vehicles.
“Getting onto the road, the Lightning flat-out cooks,” Automotive Fleet digital editor Chris Brown wrote in that brand’s first review of the all-electric pickup. “Sure, a couple of halo pickup models equal the Lightning’s zero to 60 of mid-four seconds. But this isn’t the $75,000 twin-turbo, supercharged, V-8 enviro-nightmare of yore. You can get to mid-four without the shift lag, engine rattle, or exhaust blast. And you can do it in the base Pro — the fleet model.”
