Ford dealers selling F-150 Lightning demos face a $ 25,000 fine

The new F-150 Lightning is a very popular electric truck, and Ford wants to make sure that anyone who wants to try it out will have the opportunity, and will even go so far as to ban dealers from selling their demo models.

According to a leak of documents found F150LightningForum.comdealers will have to keep their mannequin model for at least 6 months before selling them, or they face a $ 25,000 fine and will be forced to replace it within 90 days.

Ford would have preferred the mannequin model to sit in the dealership so customers could feel it, and hopefully would have encouraged them to buy an electric vehicle rather than a dealership that would make money on them.

F-150 Lightning’s extremely high demandwith 200,000 bookings for the electric pickup, for which we have already spoken. With an annual output of 150,000 units, Ford says lightning is there already sold out per year, and that those wishing to have to order and wait.

Read more: 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Strikes EV market with a starting price of less than 40 thousand dollars, also consider us Thunderstruck

All certified EV dealers are guaranteed to receive one early device as part of a demonstration program called “Ford Carriage”. So if the Ford dealer has F-150 Lightning sitting on your plot, it is very tempting to add some ridiculous markup and sell it to someone who is willing to pay. Ford also has a similar program with the Bronco when it first appeared in showrooms, but without a financial penalty for the sale. Probably because of this and turned out to be the Broncos noted in a geometric progression.

Whether this strategy will work remains to be seen, as demand and supply of cars have already sparked huge markups for virtually every automaker, and customers are there still shell out for cash. It is likely that the dealer could increase the mark-up on the new F-150 Lightning by $ 25,000 to offset the cost of the fine, but this could lead to a loss of sales incentives or even to the fact that they will be ineligible for future Ford demos.

Photo courtesy of F150LightningForum.com