c. e. white

Ford eyes smaller F-150 cousin

Pared-down pickup would boost CAFE

DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. is developing a lightweight, more
fuel-efficient pickup truck to slot in below its flagship F-150.

The new pickup truck, code-named P525, is being engineered on the
F-150's platform. But it will be lighter and slightly smaller,
supplier and industry sources told Automotive News. The pickup is
scheduled to go into production during the first half of 2011 at
Ford's Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, Mich., sources said.

Ford may call the truck the F-100, bringing back a nameplate used for
decades beginning in the 1950s. The new truck is larger than the Ford
Ranger. But it might help take the place of that compact pickup, which
could go out of production in 2009 when Ford's Twin Cities plant in
St. Paul., Minn., closes. Ford hasn't said whether the Ranger will
continue.

The new pickup is in Ford's cycle plan, sources said. But it has not
received final approval.

Mark Fields, Ford president of the Americas, would not confirm plans
for a slimmed-down truck in a recent interview. But he did acknowledge
that Ford must take weight out of its pickup trucks to meet new
fuel-economy standards.

"When you see what the F series makes up in terms of the composition
of our vehicle lineup, clearly that's one area we really have to focus
on," Fields said.

The new pickup truck will have unique sheet metal and innovative
storage space, sources said. It could be powered by a version of
Ford's new V-6 EcoBoost engine, which uses turbocharging and gasoline
direct injection.

mike hunt

Ford has had an "F100" on the shelf since the mid nineties, when they
introduced the larger F150, but because the market was heading into even
bigger full size trucks it never was approved for production

spdloader

I always thought the newly redesigned F150 they came out with in 1997 was
downsized from the previous version. I can tell you it was a lot more
cramped with my big ass in the cab, so I didn't buy one until they got
bigger in 2004.

I don't have any use for a smaller truck than my current F150, an '07
Supercab.

Spdloader

picasso

I agree... they are small enough. At work they were nice enough to
cramp me in a ford ranger... a 6' man does not belong in a truck made
for a 4'5 woman that weighs 120lbs...

One thing I like better about the ford F150 i have now than my personal
04 chev is that the inner door handle does not travel as far towards the
front of the truck as in my chev... this may be different in an F150
with power windows & mirrors if they're mounted on an extended inner
door grab handle as they are in my chev...

My knee hits in to this extended handle... friend has an 07 chev same
deal....

Driving that for 4-10 hours a day is not a pleasant ride...

chriscoaster

_________________________
Why don't they just upgrade the Ranger - a couple inches wider &
longer perhaps, with more fuel efficient engines?
It would probably cost more than cancelling the Ranger and developing
a "junior" F-150 from scratch.

-CC

jeff

<...>

Did you read the article? The new truck is based on the F-150, but a
little smaller and lighter. So it is not a new design.

The Ranger is nearing the end of its life cycle. It is time for Ford to
figure out if it needs to design a new one, use the Mazda design (Mazda
designed a different Ranger that is sold outside North America) or scrap
the truck for North America.

jeff

brent p

Time for the Ranchero! (just copy the Aussie Falcon Ute)

whitelightning

Way too late, Pontiac already has done that will be out next year.


Whitelightnbing

ad absurdum per aspera

Recall, though, that Ford and Chevy competed head to head in that
market for long years in the US. Ford was first to the party (1957)
by a couple of years, though Chevy stayed a lot longer (1988 to Ford's
1979, I think).

With GM supposedly about to bring in a Holden for that market segment,
Ford must certainly be thinking about whether there's enough room for
them to play, and a RWD unibody platform in the toybox somewhere.

Of course, they were all unibody cars underneath. Though capable of
carrying modest bedloads and (as was typical of passenger cars in
those days) doing some reasonable towing, using them as if they were
"real" pickups used 'em up fast. Presumably this will remain true.

--Joe

mike hunt

I doubt such a vehicle would sell. The Honda Ridgeline is the current
example of trying to sell a "truck" made on a car chassis, its sales are
dismal. The last manufacture to try that was Subaru and that "truck" did
not sell either and was discontinued