Ford is focusing on high-demand trims, such as the XLT, which accounts for over 50% of new orders. The Lightning Pro trim is also now available for retail customers but in very limited numbers. These units will be sent to reservation holders who have been waiting since the launch.
So annoying. Announce it at a reasonable price, then raise the price to unreasonable levels, then lower the price back down to reasonable levels but DON'T MAKE OR SELL THEM??? Yeah, of course the XLT is the most popular trim. You can't get the cheaper one!
Yeah, I have never found “high demand” data to be particularly useful from companies that don’t sell direct to consumer.
Of course the higher trims are what’s in demand. Like you said, it’s in part because that’s all they’re making, but even for less constrained models, it’s because that’s all the dealership ordered, and most people don’t want to deal with the headache of ordering a specific configuration from the dealership.
I’m much more interested in these numbers from direct to consumer companies like Tesla, Rivian, and Polestar. Are people primarily buying the higher trims of their cars?
I used to be in the “biz”. They know why the customers want. Even if they do not have it on the lot and thus is not what the customer ultimately buys.
Now of course if they can grab an XLT prospect and easily up sell them into a higher margin trim - them KNOWING customers want an CLT does not mean they will actually satisfy that demand. But they know.