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Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

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Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#701

Post by morshu9001 »

threetonesun wrote: post #47
Workaccount2 wrote: post #17

It's a shame the Lightning got discontinued. As an EV owner, it sucks that the main thing holding the technology back is misconceptions and misunderstanding, rather than actual practical matters. People think EVs are cars with tanks of electrons, and run aground the same way you would if you thought horses were cars full of hay. It's a different transport tool that gives the same results, you just have to know how to…

An F-150 Lightning and Cybertruck weigh somewhere between 6000 and 7000 pounds, so I personally think of them the same way as if you replaced your horse with a hippo. It's not hard to convince people to move to electric, just make it such a better economic proposition that it would be silly not to.

I don't need a pickup truck, but if I ever did, I'd get whatever my landscaper has. Unlike most people with Rivians, Lightnings, Cybertrucks, Ridgelines, and Raptors, he totally relies on that truck for work.

So far it's Tacoma. Maybe some day he'll have an EV instead.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#702

Post by Aurornis »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #365
alexjplant wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A pickup truck should just be max utility, especially if you're a manufacturer making your first one The modern US pickup truck isn't built for utility. It's a $60,000 four-door lifted luxobarge with leather interior and a short bed. It signals (perceived) wealth while preserving working-class alignment. It can also be justified by way of having to pick up used furniture for TikTok refinish and flip projects or bim…

It is utility, just not the utility you're thinking of. Try spending all day, every day in a basic, rough riding pickup truck, then compare it to spending all day in a "luxobarge" that can still tow a 7,000lb trailer. To the people I know who drive trucks like that, they're basically mobile offices.

Yep. The internet loves to bash truck owners as all being the same one guy who buys a truck to drive 1.3 miles to the office every day, but the audience of truck buyers is huge and diverse. Acting like nobody who buys a truck actually uses it or thinking that contractors couldn’t possibly appreciate (or deserve?) a nice interior for what is basically their mobile office is pretty out of touch.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#703

Post by bottlepalm »

BeetleB wrote: post #48

It wasn't canceled for poor sales. It was canceled because it was too expensive to produce, and would not fund all their other EV/battery projects. They found a better road to profitability in that front.

This is the answer, CyberTruck achieved positive gross margins in Q3 2024. The F-150 never did. So the Lightning is canceled and the CyberTruck lives on.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#704

Post by themafia »

kulahan wrote: post #491
queuebert wrote: post #480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're out of touch with the working class. Some people practically live in these trucks. A little comfort goes a long way toward making their day bearable. Leather is easy to clean, power adjustment makes the seat more comfortable. Auto wipers, climate, etc., help them focus on the calls they're taking. And so on. Fleets of these are bought for commercial purposes as well. Companies wouldn't spend that kind of money…

Brother, people are scraping by right now. Auto loan defaults are nearing all-time highs. Car loan lengths are longer than ever. The average age of a vehicle on the road is something like 14 years old now. I promise you with all my heart, those luxobarges are not being purchased because they’re practical in any way, shape, or form. It’s 110% virtue signaling. I don’t get the recent internet trend of trying to excuse…

> I promise you with all my heart

You have such a deep misanthropic view that it's prevented you from seeing anything outside of it. You're preaching a faith not practicing an understanding of the world.

> Nobody is buying a gigantic vehicle

There are tons of contractors, laborers, small business and property owners who need the space or the utility of the vehicle. The reason these vehicles sell well is because they come in _tons_ of configurations.

> because it has seats that are easy to clean

No, that's why the manufacturer puts them in there, it helps them sell more vehicles by expanding their options.

> People are bad with money

Just.. like.. universally? Then how do you explain the number of billionaires and millionaires in this country? Let me guess.. from your heart it's 110% graft and corruption and 0% skill and sense and building wealth?

> I talk to my car selling friends,

Who has "car selling friends?" Your access to anecdotal information may not be helping you.

> It’s one of the strongest social signals people purchase.

We know this.. how?

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#705

Post by mylies43 »

Nextgrid wrote: post #622
kulahan wrote: post #616

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because most people who are fucked, are fucked due to terrible money spending habits. Tons and tons of people who make six figures are living paycheck to paycheck. Not because they must but because they won't stop spending poorly. Again, I don't understand the desperate internet trend of defending terrible choices by focusing on the, like, 0.001% of people who do everything right and still fail. We've got the highest…

I was hoping for some genuine counterpoints but this just feels like a rant? It feels like the stereotypical response that millennials could afford property if only they didn’t spend their money on avocado toast at Starbucks. Let’s say a normal car costs you $200/month and a big truck costs 400. 200 is not going to make a difference in your situation - you are either good either way or close to breaking point and the…

I don't think most people are buying trucks and then defaulting the next month either that's a bizarre argument to make. And 200 a month is a lot of money!

200 * 12 = 2400 * 4 years( let's be real it would be longer ) = 9600. That IS a lot of money, it's not going to solve every problem immediately but applying the mindset of whatever Im screwed so I might as well set my money on fire is exactly how people keep sinking into the hole. You take the 200 extra on the car, on the apartment, the 150 pants. Its death by a thousand paper cuts and it will make a bad situation much worse.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#706

Post by [deleted] »

billti wrote: post #13

I think the timing of the Cybertruck starting deliveries roughly aligning with when Elon got heavily involved in politics hurt it quite a bit. It is such a distinctive vehicle with a strong association with Elon, that there was an immediate brand association. It may have had poor sales anyway, but it certainly didn't help that many folks on the left, who are typically the most 'pro EV', had a large 'anti-Elon' shift…

[deleted]

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#707

Post by parpfish »

guga42k wrote: post #197

imho, CT is horribly looking car with absolute disregard to any aesthetics. everything else is secondary. it has vibes of Aztec. one of the worst selling car ever.

I’m still shocked that the CT went into production.

I’m convinced that the CT could’ve become a legend if they had just done a limited run of like 500-1,000. At that level, nobody would care if it was poorly built or worked well as a truck. It’d just be a crazy collector item that would go to car shows.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#708

Post by tempest_ »

Aurornis wrote: post #700
alexjplant wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A pickup truck should just be max utility, especially if you're a manufacturer making your first one The modern US pickup truck isn't built for utility. It's a $60,000 four-door lifted luxobarge with leather interior and a short bed. It signals (perceived) wealth while preserving working-class alignment. It can also be justified by way of having to pick up used furniture for TikTok refinish and flip projects or bim…

> The modern US pickup truck isn't built for utility. It's a $60,000 four-door lifted luxobarge with leather interior and a short bed. It signals (perceived) wealth while preserving working-class alignment. Reading the HN version of truck drivers is such a stark contrast to interfacing with actually contractors on a day to day basis. A vehicle being comfortable and luxurious isn’t something only the bourgeoisie can a…

No, but a sprinter van is going to provide better actual utility for most trades and a 80k f150 platinum is a long way away from a white 2 door long bed which can make the spend not make sense business wise.

As you say though I do see trades workers with the fancy pickup trucks (often with a trailer, cant scratch that bed paint aha) which I attribute to low interest on auto loans and poor business sense.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#709

Post by Refreeze5224 »

c0brac0bra wrote: post #312
billti wrote: post #13

I think the timing of the Cybertruck starting deliveries roughly aligning with when Elon got heavily involved in politics hurt it quite a bit. It is such a distinctive vehicle with a strong association with Elon, that there was an immediate brand association. It may have had poor sales anyway, but it certainly didn't help that many folks on the left, who are typically the most 'pro EV', had a large 'anti-Elon' shift…

Have we completely forgotten about how Tesla dealerships were shot up, firebombed? Video after video showing cybertrucks vandalized with scratches and spray paint? It may be a terrible car from a terrible program, but these events at least bear mentioning. If you saw it happening in 2025, would it have a cooling effect on your decision to purchase? Who would want the trouble?

You seem to have forgotten why those things happened. It was the Nazi salutes Elon did at an official US government event.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#710

Post by parpfish »

datahack wrote: post #358

This is a case study in the failure of product market fit. There is tons of room for a low cost, high quality small electric or hybrid pickup in today’s market. Ford Maverick sales have been exceptionally strong, setting records in 2025 with 155,051 units sold in the US of A, up almost a fifth from last year. Tesla needs to make a product that people want, and continuing to try to sell one they don’t want just won’t…

They should’ve released the electric tuck for the segment that wanted the maverick. Even better would e been an electric lei truck, but I don’t know if you’d be able to stack enough batteries on one of their tiny li’l frames
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