3 ms·

They scaled the production for the $40,000 truck they promised, but only gave the dealers the $58,000 or up models to sell. If you could buy a Lightning for $3

They scaled the production for the $40,000 truck they promised, but only gave the dealers the $58,000 or up models to sell. If you could buy a Lightning for $32,500 after federal tax credit they wouldn't be able to keep them on the lot. But that inital pent up demand was very high so they jacked the price way up to try to capture more money, and now they can't drop it back to Earth to reinvigorate the demand. Also, they're losing money on every truck they sell so dropping the price is undoubtedly distasteful to management, even though everyone knows that volume is how you make money.

bdcravens 3y ago
Pretty much every dealer here in the Houston area, which might be the pickup capital of the world (or at least feels like it), is selling them for closer to $80k.
- jandrese 3y ago
  Or more accurately not selling them, and also refusing to budge on the price.
- rch 3y ago
  The industry should reset to the power/volume/mass ratio of a 2010 Toyota Tundra, and then design an EV.
  - bigtex 3y ago
    2007 Tundra Limited is peak Tundra for me.
- Moto7451 3y ago
  I did an auto maker sponsored in person market study and the F150 Lightning was being compared with luxury brands because of the common MSRP points. This 40K electric truck doesn’t really exist.
el_don_almighty 3y ago
What did you say? Increase volume when you lose money on every unit? This isn't software... especially when you better accrue a giant pot of warranty money for the inevitable battery and system recalls over the early infant years. I agree with your initial premise about actually introducing low-cost versions, but these must be subsidized by the high margin versions just like airline flights. Business travel pays for the infrastructure used by the masses. The whole model depends on high-margin cash flow carrying the business forward into the high-volume, low-margin production. If there isn't any cash leftover, the whole thing crashes into the terminal at the end of the runway in a fireball.
- jandrese 3y ago
  > Increase volume when you lose money on every unit? The only way to eventually make money is to streamline production, which means leveraging economies of scale. Trying to cut back on production to avoid losses is a losing proposition in the long run. Short sighted businesses are rarely successful.

bdcravens 3y ago

Pretty much every dealer here in the Houston area, which might be the pickup capital of the world (or at least feels like it), is selling them for closer to $80k.

jandrese 3y ago
Or more accurately not selling them, and also refusing to budge on the price.
rch 3y ago
The industry should reset to the power/volume/mass ratio of a 2010 Toyota Tundra, and then design an EV.
- bigtex 3y ago
  2007 Tundra Limited is peak Tundra for me.
Moto7451 3y ago
I did an auto maker sponsored in person market study and the F150 Lightning was being compared with luxury brands because of the common MSRP points. This 40K electric truck doesn’t really exist.

el_don_almighty 3y ago

What did you say? Increase volume when you lose money on every unit? This isn't software... especially when you better accrue a giant pot of warranty money for the inevitable battery and system recalls over the early infant years. I agree with your initial premise about actually introducing low-cost versions, but these must be subsidized by the high margin versions just like airline flights. Business travel pays for the infrastructure used by the masses. The whole model depends on high-margin cash flow carrying the business forward into the high-volume, low-margin production. If there isn't any cash leftover, the whole thing crashes into the terminal at the end of the runway in a fireball.

jandrese 3y ago
> Increase volume when you lose money on every unit? The only way to eventually make money is to streamline production, which means leveraging economies of scale. Trying to cut back on production to avoid losses is a losing proposition in the long run. Short sighted businesses are rarely successful.