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July 17 (Reuters) - Ford Motor on Monday slashed the prices of its popular electric F-150 Lightning trucks, with the base variant now costing about 17% less, as an electric vehicle (EV) price war started by market leader Tesla intensifies.
The Detroit automaker, which had raised Lightning prices earlier this year, said it was able to cut prices on improvements in scale and battery raw material costs.
The move comes amid a price war started by Tesla a few months ago, which has seen the EVs of legacy automakers piling up at dealers, as sales slow. In the quarter through June, Ford's EV sales fell 2.8%.
"Shortly after launching the F-150 Lightning, rapidly rising material costs, supply constraints and other factors drove up the cost of the EV truck for Ford and our customers," said Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer, Ford Model e.
"We've continued to work in the background to improve accessibility and affordability, to help to lower prices for our customers and shorten the wait times for their new F-150 Lightning."
Shares of Ford were down 2.5% in early trade. Rival General Motors also fell about 1.5%, while EV maker Rivian was down 2.6%.
Battery raw material prices have been one of the factors that pushed up EV prices. But prices of cobalt and lithium, crucial for EV batteries, have declined. Analysts expect commodity costs to drop further in the second half of the year.
Ford has also strengthened its sourcing options. Earlier this year, it unveiled new supply deals for battery-grade lithium as the U.S. automaker aimed to meet its target of producing 2 million EVs by 2026.
Ford said on Monday it had lowered the prices for all variants of the Lightning model. The base Pro variant now carries a suggested retail price of $49,995, compared to its prior price of $59,974, while the higher-end Platinum model will cost about 6.2% less, at $91,995. (Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
