Ford Plan Could Stop Dealer Markups, Hinder F-150 Lightning Flippers

Ford is instituting measures to keep dealers from marking up the price of the F-150 Lightning and preventing buyers from flipping the electric truck immediately after taking delivery. The company outlined these strategies in an email sent to showrooms that the F150Gen14 forum posted.

According to the opening of the document: “It has come to our attention that a limited number of dealerships are interacting with customers in a manner that is negatively impacting customer satisfaction and damaging to the Ford Motor Company brand and Dealer Body reputation.”

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It lists an example as “demanding customers who are already on the reservation list for the 22 MY F-150 Lightning make additional deposits or payments.”

If Ford determines a dealer is engaging in these practices, the automaker reserves the right to send the showroom’s allocation of Lightnings to other locations for the entire 2022 model year. That would be a serious penalty for a model that is projected to be popular.

Motor1.com reached out to Ford to find out if any dealers had been punished. We were told this announcement just went out today, so nothing has happened yet.

At the same time, Ford gives dealers the choice to have Lightning buyers sign a contract that prevents them from selling the pickup for one year after taking delivery. Conceivably, this strategy could give a showroom an incentive not to add market adjustments to the Lightning because there’s no concern about the new owner immediately flipping the truck for a profit.

It’s worth noting that this contract is optional for dealers to offer, not mandatory. “Such a requirement is between a dealer and their customer. It is up to the dealer to decide to use it and to consult with local laws in the state they operate should they choose to do so,” Ford spokesperson Emma Berg told Motor1.com.

Ford recently announced a plan to increase Lightning production because of demand for the electric truck. The first of them arrive in showrooms this spring. A fully optioned example can cost $97,249.