Another day and another dealer is marking up a product to the moon. This time it’s the new Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum which should start at about $91,000. Instead, a dealer has decided to try and get some wealthy buyer to plop down $145,309. That dealer isn’t alone either.
First spotted by a Twitter user with the name @DHHMarBio, a screengrab shows that markup which is nearly 50 percent above MSRP. The dealer in question, DCH Ford of Thousand Oaks in Westlake Village, California, seems to have markups on all sorts of vehicles aside from the pickup as well.
Read Also: Chevy Dealer Reportedly Asks A Giant $100,000 Markup On 2023 Corvette Z06
Another dealer in Napa, California makes its markup even more blatant. Listed for $133,854, this 2022 F-150 Platinum has a quick link to its window sticker on display for anyone to see. Its MSRP is just $93,854. That’s a markup of $40,000, or almost enough cash for someone to buy that truck and a Mustang Mach-E from the same dealer. Of course, the Mach-E is marked up $10,000 on its own.
https://twitter.com/DHHMarBio/status/1524830380649353216?s=20&t=41KA5FXvmUz3klvNggnF1Q
This is a rampant problem among different brands and dealerships across the entire nation. A few days ago we reported on a Chevrolet dealer that seems to be marking up the new Z06 by $100,000. What’s interesting about this story with Ford is that it’s CEO, Jim Farley himself, has condemned this practice.
Back in February, we reported about how he told Fox Business that only about 10 percent of the brand’s dealers were charging more than MSRP. “We have very good knowledge of who they are, and their future allocation of product will be directly impacted,” Farley commented.
That article also pointed out how important it will be for brands like Ford, Chevrolet, and Stellantis to match consumer expectations by selling at or close to MSRP.
While the Rivian R1T isn’t really a perfect direct comparison to the F-150 Lightning, buyers who are willing to go with the upstart EV brand can completely forget about markups thanks to Rivian’s direct-to-consumer sales model.
At least for now it looks like dealers are going to try to snatch up every extra penny they can get. If that means ignoring the brand’s CEO and continuing to do the exact thing he condemned, it seems they’re comfortable with it.
