Ford raises F-150 Lightning prices again to battle high costs

(Reuters) -Ford Motor Co on Thursday raised prices of some models of its popular F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck again, the latest in a series of price hikes aimed at offsetting high costs.

The carmaker said it raised the starting price of the Lariat Standard model to $75,974 from $74,474 and the Platinum range to $98,074 from $96,874 "in response to current material costs, market factors, and supply chain constraints."

Shares of Ford closed up 2% on Thursday.

The move underscores the red-hot demand for the electric version of the gasoline-powered F-150 truck, which has been the subject of some songs due to its popularity, and comes at a time when market leader Tesla Inc has triggered a price war.

"Ahead of the next wave of commercial order banks opening mid-April, Ford is adjusting the price of the F-150 Lightning Pro MSRP from $55,974 to $59,974," Ford said, adding that the model remains sold-out for retail customers.

The Detroit automaker resumed production of the F-150 Lightning earlier this month after recalling 18 electric trucks due to a battery-cell manufacturing defect.

A week earlier, Ford said its electric-vehicle business unit was expected to lose $3 billion this year, but remained on track to achieve a pretax margin of 8% by late 2026.

Automotive News first reported the price increase on Thursday.

(Reporting by Kannaki Deka and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)