Ford Takes On Tesla In Norway With F-150 Lightning Launch

Ford Motor Co F said Thursday that it is bringing the electric version of the F-150 pickup truck to Norway, where Tesla has the lion’s share of the market.

What Happened: The Michigan-based auto giant said in a statement that customers can apply to purchase one of a limited number of F-150 Lightning Lariat Launch Edition trucks, which are "perfectly suited" to Norway's terrain.

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Ford said that the Lariat Launch Edition for Norwegian customers would be offered exclusively with the Super Crew Cab body style in the Antimatter Blue metallic body color and in limited numbers.

The company said that deliveries will begin next year in Norway, a country it labeled as the world's "EV Capital."

Why It Matters: Ford noted that 80% of new car sales in Norway are electric, calling the Nordic nation the "most advanced electric vehicle market."

Darren Palmer, Ford's Vice President of EV programs at Ford Model E, said that customers in Norway formed a Facebook group that ended up with 4,000 potential customers. They demanded that "we bring the vehicle to the region," reported Yahoo Finance.

Ford is not the only company targeting Norway. In January this year, Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk praised the country's electrification efforts and thanked Norwegians for their "incredible support of electric vehicles."

Tesla's electric vehicles dominate the Norwegian market, where four out of five new cars sold in 2022 were BEVs, according to Reuters.

Ford recently hiked the price of the F-150 Lightning in the U.S. When it began selling, the pickup was priced at $40,000, and after the price increase, cost $59,974.

The company sold 15,600 Lightning cars in 2022 and 3,600 until February 2023.

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