Despite shedding hundreds of pounds with its 2015 redesign, the F-150 hasn’t managed to match the fuel economy of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ (NYSE:FCAU) Ram 1500 equipped with a diesel engine.
Advertisement
Only three years after a completely new F-150, such significant changes in a traditionally slow-changing segment underline Ford’s fierce determination to stay ahead in the highly-competitive truck market, not to mention its desire to keep the F-150 North America’s best-selling truck.
A hybrid F-150 has also been confirmed to arrive in 2020. The line controls nearly 37 percent of the full-size pickup truck market, according to Autodata Corp., an industry research firm.
Ford truck leadership was established with the sixth-generation of F-Series for the 1977 model year, a time when 8-track tapes, disco and bell bottoms were the rage. Ford has created seven different front-end designs for its big-selling truck, one for each of the F-150’s seven trim levels.
Nearly as an afterthought, Ford also revealed an update of the F-150, which might have been feeling taken for granted amid all the mobility talk, if the profit-minting pickup had the purported self-awareness of autonomous cars. However, the F-150 does feature class-first automatic engine start/stop across the entire range. It alters the appearance of the grille from a vertical design to a more horizontal look, said Platto. The twin grille bars on F-150 Lariats equipped with the Sport package receive body-color treatment. The F-150 Platinum gets Dark Marsala, while the F-150 Limited has Navy Pier.
At the rear, the tailgate is now more sculpted, and there’s a bold F-150 legend stamped in the center.
In emergency situations, Pre-Collision Assist with Pedestrian Detection is also an exclusive feature for the segment. They’re also launching an industry first, “City Solutions” team to work with cities to address congestion.
But changes to the 2018 F-150 extend far beyond cosmetics.
Ford did not release any details about the diesel other than it would have a 10-speed automatic transmission that was jointly developed with General Motors, and the truck will feature standard stop-start technology, which turns off the engine when the pickup comes to a stop to save fuel. The new engines include an all-new 3.0-liter Power Stroke V6 turbo diesel and enhanced V6 and V8 gas engines. The new standard engine is a 3.3-liter V6 with direct-injection, good for 282 horsepower and 253 lb-ft. of torque. The 3.0-liter will be a variant of the Lion diesel engine that Ford builds for use in Land Rover and Jaguar vehicles.
Advertisement
The new second-gen 2.7L EcoBoost engine boasts dual port and direct injection tech, reduced internal friction and improved robustness.
