Facing off against the Tesla Cybertruck? The "Pickup Truck King" Ford Motor in the United States has lowered its prices! The base model has been reduced by 17%.

As Tesla's electric car price war heats up in North America, Ford Motor Company has significantly reduced the price of its popular electric F-150 Lightning truck, with the base model seeing a price drop of nearly 17%.

Specifically, the price of the base Pro model will be lowered to $49,995, down from $59,974, a decrease of 16.6%; while the price of the high-end Platinum model will be reduced by about 6.2% to $91,995.

Previously, Ford had raised the price of its electric pickup truck multiple times, with the last price increase taking place in March of this year. Ford announced that the base Pro model of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck would be priced at $59,974, up from $55,974, not including the $1,895 shipping fee. This was an increase of $20,000 compared to its initial price of $39,974 when it was released in May 2021, and other models such as Lariat and Platinum also saw varying degrees of price increases.

Ford Motor Company stated that this price reduction was made possible by improvements in scale and the cost of battery raw materials. Marin Gjaja, Ford's Chief Customer Officer for the Model E, said, "Shortly after the launch of the F-150 Lightning, material costs quickly rose, supply constraints and other factors pushed up the cost of Ford and our customers' electric trucks. We continue to work to improve accessibility and affordability, helping our customers reduce prices and shorten the wait time for their new F-150 Lightning."

The rising cost of battery raw materials is one of the important factors driving up the price of electric vehicles. However, the prices of important raw materials such as cobalt and lithium have already declined. Analysts expect commodity costs to further decrease in the second half of the year. In addition, Ford has strengthened its procurement options to control costs. Earlier this year, the company announced a new battery-grade lithium supply agreement aimed at achieving its goal of producing 2 million electric vehicles by 2026.

Ford's price reduction comes at a time when its electric vehicle sales are sluggish. In the quarter ending in June, Ford's electric vehicle sales declined by 2.8%. Tesla's previous electric car price war has had a significant negative impact on other automakers.

In stark contrast to automakers like Ford, Tesla delivered over 466,100 vehicles to global customers in the second quarter, an 83% increase compared to the same period last year, benefiting from several price reductions and the federal electric vehicle tax credit; and its vehicle production in the second quarter was 479,700, up 85.5% year-on-year.

Ford's price reduction for its electric pickup truck also coincides with the debut of Tesla's first Cybertruck. On July 15th, Tesla announced on Twitter that the first Cybertruck had been completed at its Gigafactory in Texas. The latest official comment from Tesla regarding the timeline is that deliveries are planned for around the end of the third quarter. Tesla CEO Elon Musk previously stated that the company could produce approximately 250,000 Cybertrucks per year, and later added that the number could be between 250,000 and 500,000. According to Wall Street Journal, the pickup truck market in the United States is currently dominated by Ford, accounting for 20% of the market share. However, if Tesla's Cybertruck is priced competitively with the existing pickup trucks in the market, it could potentially pose a significant threat to Ford's vehicles.

The website previously analyzed that Ford's electric vehicle business is the most vulnerable in the face of Tesla's price war. In 2022, Ford's electric vehicle losses expanded to $2.1 billion, and in the first quarter of 2023, the electric vehicle business incurred a loss of $700 million. As for the full-year performance in 2023, Ford expects the losses from electric vehicles to expand to $3 billion.

While incurring losses and reducing prices, Ford's stock price plummeted by more than 5% on Monday, and General Motors fell by approximately 3%. Rivian, which had experienced a strong rebound in previous days, also dropped by about 3.5%.