By Mike Sheldrick, Senior Editor
Fleet managers who might be tempted to order an out-of-stock unreserved 2022 F-150 Lightning are likely to be disappointed.
To tamp down overwhelming demand, Ford has stopped taking reservations for the vehicle and doubled initial production by 150,000 annually by mid-2023. More recently, it has made moves to end F-150 Lightning scalping among customers and dealers even before the truck’s first deliveries — likely by late June.
According to an article in Insideevs.com, Ford has warned dealers who interact with customers in a manner that is “negatively impacting customer satisfaction and damaging to the Ford Motor Company brand,” and that “if it is determined that your dealership is engaging in such practices, Ford Motor Company reserves the right to redirect that dealership’s allocation of the F-150 Lightning for the entirety of MY 2022.”
Ford also recommended that dealers add a one-year No-Sale provision to sales contracts for customers in order to prevent customer scalping. That prompted angry comments to the story by many would-be buyers.
This is a retail issue of course, but it reflects the shortages for cars and trucks and affects fleet orders for out-of-stock F-150 Lightnings and many other vehicles.
