Ford Wants To Known If You Want a Vehicle Wrap

[FordLightningMan]

There's literally only one thing I am envious about with Rivian, and it's the color options. Having a cheap wrap for Lightning would be amazing, to fix this competitive disadvantage.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'd rather have a very cheap wrap that lasts a year, than a top of the line wrap that will last the life of ownership. It would be innovative and amazing if a company offered a way to keep refreshing your color regularly, while keeping the price down. I'd even pay for the service upfront, something like "get three wraps in five years," if you buy in bulk for a deal.

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[cvalue13]

guessing that it's better to get it done at a place that specializes in them and does it all day long than through a dealer.

dealers rarely do these sorts of mods. As with bed liners, the “dealer option” is only as a middleman, farming out the work to local installers. Not that there aren’t some dealers that have brought some such things in-house, but for the most part.

dealership both negotiates lower rates with local shops, then bolts on a margin - upside being dealer-facing warranties etc.

 

[greenne]

For factory options, I would much prefer more paint choices. As opposed to 2 blacks, 3 whites, 3 grays, and a red that Ford is limiting us to now. Even Maverick can be had with an orange and a blue. Come on Ford!

Or green!

Eruption Green would be so sweet...

 

[Oafy44]

There's literally only one thing I am envious about with Rivian, and it's the color options. Having a cheap wrap for Lightning would be amazing, to fix this competitive disadvantage.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'd rather have a very cheap wrap that lasts a year, than a top of the line wrap that will last the life of ownership. It would be innovative and amazing if a company offered a way to keep refreshing your color regularly, while keeping the price down. I'd even pay for the service upfront, something like "get three wraps in five years," if you buy in bulk for a deal.

you probably aren’t the minority but wrap material is “cheap”. It’s the labor that will cost you every time. What would you charge someone to wrap their lightning if they came to you and it cost about $400 in materials?

takes about 2 days or so with a couple people. So at that point you don’t want a “cheap” wrap. You want a wrap that will last you several years or else you’re going to have to pay for labor every time ….and labor isn't Going to get any cheaper. It will be interesting to see the cyber truck with 1 color option. Those rolled steel panels don’t look 100% smooth so I think a wrap could be difficult to pull off

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

Yes, I want a wrap in Atlas Blue since you took away that color for 2023.
*Fixed color name*

I've got a '22 Atlas Blue, which looks a bit like the older darker "Denim Blue", but it's not as bright as my previous blues "Lightning Blue" and "Blue Flame".

That's BLUE.

 

[ivan256]

you probably aren’t the minority but wrap material is “cheap”. It’s the labor that will cost you every time. What would you charge someone to wrap their lightning if they came to you and it cost about $400 in materials?

takes about 2 days or so with a couple people. So at that point you don’t want a “cheap” wrap. You want a wrap that will last you several years or else you’re going to have to pay for labor every time ….and labor isn't Going to get any cheaper. It will be interesting to see the cyber truck with 1 color option. Those rolled steel panels don’t look 100% smooth so I think a wrap could be difficult to pull off

Wrapping the Lightning is especially problematic compared to a regular F-150 due to the Lightning badging on the sides of the bed.

 

[Henry Ford]

You can nit-pick anything. But the only thing I legitimately dislike about the Lightning is the color palette. Why can't I have a green one?!

This! It is scientifically proven that green is the best vehicle color. It should be illegal not to offer it.

 

[astricklin]

I've got a '22 Atlas Blue, which looks a bit like the older darker "Denim Blue", but it's not as bright as my previous blues "Lightning Blue" and "Blue Flame".

That's BLUE.

I had a blue VW new beetle that was one of the 12 or so different blues they had.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

I had a blue VW new beetle that was one of the 12 or so different blues they had.

I've complained about it before, but it looks like car companies have given up on colorful options.

All they seem to make these days are variations on white, black and grey.

If you're going to only make 10 or so colors, why not have 10 DIFFERENT colors?

What we get are: White, Off-White, Grey, Black, Dark Grey, Light Grey, White with a hint of blue, black with a hint of blue when you look at it from a certain angle in the sun, etc..

When they decided to make a throwback Bronco, 99% of giving that "Retro Look" was simply colors like bright red, bright yellow, bright blue, etc. Look at a car magazine from the 70s and you see colors making a statement.

 

[astricklin]

I've complained about it before, but it looks like car companies have given up on colorful options.

All they seem to make these days are variations on white, black and grey.

If you're going to only make 10 or so colors, why not have 10 DIFFERENT colors?

What we get are: White, Off-White, Grey, Black, Dark Grey, Light Grey, White with a hint of blue, black with a hint of blue when you look at it from a certain angle in the sun, etc..

When they decided to make a throwback Bronco, 99% of giving that "Retro Look" was simply colors like bright red, bright yellow, bright blue, etc. Look at a car magazine from the 70s and you see colors making a statement.

Don't blame the car companies, blame people's preference for neutral colors.

 

[jazzmanmonty]

Not saying that it'd look good on the Lightning, but that bright green on the Jeep Rubicon 4xe in the superbowl commerical looked pretty tits. Some companies still have balls.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

Don't blame the car companies, blame people's preference for neutral colors.

It's a feedback loop gone wrong. Dealers pre-ordered neutral colors, giving customers fewer choices, then manufacturers eliminated some colors.

Where things went overboard is when they decided to keep the same number of colors but most of them are variations of the same color. How many shades of grey and white do they need to satisfy demand?

Parking lots are full of black, white and silver vehicles. The only variation is what shade of grey.

The only vehicles that generally have colorful colors are sports cars and Jeeps. There are plenty of colorful Corvettes and Mustangs, and you never see a grey Ferrari or Porsche.

 

[astricklin]

It's a feedback loop gone wrong. Dealers pre-ordered neutral colors, giving customers fewer choices, then manufacturers eliminated some colors.

Where things went overboard is when they decided to keep the same number of colors but most of them are variations of the same color. How many shades of grey and white do they need to satisfy demand?

Parking lots are full of black, white and silver vehicles. The only variation is what shade of grey.

The only vehicles that generally have colorful colors are sports cars and Jeeps. There are plenty of colorful Corvettes and Mustangs, and you never see a grey Ferrari or Porsche.

And I personally refuse to buy anything that's monochrome. It has to be painted an actual color and not a shade of grey. Red, blue, green, yellow, orange.
Even the 'area 51' color is better than just plain grey. And as far as I can tell it's only available on the ice f150.

 

[ivan256]

Don't blame the car companies, blame people's preference for neutral colors.

I don't buy this argument just like I don't buy the "manual transmissions are dying because customers don't want them" argument. It doesn't add up.

Colorful cars sell for more money in the secondary market. People want color!

Manual transmission performance cars sell for more money in the secondary market. People want to drive them!

So why? It's about maximizing the size of the potential market. People who want a colorful car might settle for a grey car. But somebody who wants a grey car or a blue car or a red car will NOT buy a yellow car. It has nothing to do with what customers want. It has to do with reducing friction in the pipeline. Customers want a particular color. Salesmen want a silver car to sell.

Same with manual transmissions. If every car on the lot has a manual you can't sell your cars to the 60%+ of people who can't drive stick. If all you have are automatics, then people who want a manual can settle for the auto and still drive it. Combine that with having to recertify the entire powertrain when you change the transmission, and we've regulated ourselves out of a product that customers want.

What people will settle for isn't the same as what people want.

Blame the car companies. Blame the dealers. Blame the regulators. Don't blame the people who are asking for a color they can't buy.

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