The Ford F-150 Lightning is so popular that Ford is taking this big step to prevent scalping

The Ford F-150 Lightning is so popular that Ford is taking this big step to prevent scalping

If there's something you really want, you can bet there's a duffer out there trying to sell it to you for an exorbitant price: PS5s, sneakers, concert tickets, and even overpriced whistles shaped like cybertracks have been bought up by duffers.

Apparently, this could happen to electric cars as well. So Ford has taken steps to prevent anyone from trying to scalpel the forthcoming F-150 Lightning pickup truck. In short, anyone with an F-150 Lighting may not be able to sell it for a year.

News of this move came from the F-150 Gen 14 forum, where Ford sent a notice to dealers supporting the "no resale" clause. This means that dealers, if they want to opt in, can ask F-150 lighting buyers to sign something that would prevent them from selling the car for a full year.

A Ford spokesperson confirmed this to Roadshow, but confirmed that this decision is entirely between the dealer and the customer. It is also up to the dealer to check local and state laws to see if it is legal to require the customer to sign a no-resale agreement. [But this is not a new concept. Many highly anticipated cars, especially supercars, have been subjected to no-resale agreements in the past. Ford itself did the same with the Ford GT and sued John Cena in 2017 for violating a two-year no-resale agreement. The actor and wrestler reportedly sold the car for a significant profit within a month of purchasing it.

The Ford F-150 Lighting has proven to be incredibly popular, which is not surprising seeing as the Ford F-Series has long been the best-selling car in the United States. Ford even had to close its reservation page after 200,000 people signed up to buy the electric truck.

According to Ford, full production capacity is around 70,000 to 80,000 vehicles per year. Ford has already promised to double the production capacity of the F-150 Lightning by next year, but so far, reservations have not been filled for some time.

With the electric truck market starting to heat up with the likes of the Rivian R1t and GMC Hummer EV, it's no surprise that Ford wants to bring EVs to those not looking to make a quick buck.

On a related note, Ford is also taking action against a "limited number" of dealers who allegedly violated their sales and service agreements. According to the automaker, these dealers are forcing customers to make additional deposits and payments for the F-150 Lightning.

It is not clear what these payments were, but Ford claims that this has had a negative impact on its own reputation as well as that of other dealers. Dealers who are found to have engaged in such behavior will lose their F-150 Lightning allotments for the rest of the year. Considering the popularity of the car so far, this is a major blow. Hopefully this will put some sketchy dealers back in the queue.

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