Ford announced today that it was delaying the release of their 2009 Ford F-150 on the heels of GM's announcement that they would likely delay the development of the replacement for their GMT900 platform. Obviously, the merger of high gas prices and the F-150 getting thumped by the Civic has convinced Ford it also needs to cut the production of its older models. Resources are also shifting toward the Edge, Flex and smaller cars like the Focus. In a frank statement, CEO Alan Mullaly said "We view the move to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles as permanent and we are responding to customer demand." Press release below the jump.
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Latest by petersterncan: @rlj676: The C1 Focus doesn't share much with the Mazda 3?
LOL! I'd like to say you're way out in left field... but the truth is that you're not even in the ballpark.
And once again, I'm going to provide a more »
No, not that kind of Toby Keith hose problem — the only way to fix that problem is with Viagra. And really, that doesn't fix it, it just makes the problem a bit more hard. No, what we're really talking about is Ford recalling more than 655,000 Ford F-150 and Lincoln Mark LT pickup trucks to fix some bad brake hoses in...
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Ford is having to recall approximately 1.8 million 7.3-liter PowerStroke diesel-powered trucks due to a computer software problem that has caused engine failures for customers, which we think is how I, Robot originally was supposed to start. According to Ford, the camshaft position sensor could break down and disrupt the flow of air and fuel, thus causing the vehicle to stall. Totally not as much fun as farting fire from the last Ford Recall.
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It's difficult to imagine any of you Jalops needing to haul 20,000 pounds. We also doubt many of you are in the market for a truck whose price tag easily hits $40,000 to take off-roading. But what if you came across a half-dozen utes sitting in the middle of California's Rubicon Trail, each adorned with a sign reading "Take me"? Sure, that's totally plausible. So, when Ford invited us to put its 2008 Super Duty through some of the more rigorous tasks a vehicle will ever face, we struggled to come up with a reason to turn them down. After all, this thing has wheels (sometimes even six of them!) and we like things with wheels, do we not?
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Latest by n/a: I love using my 99 F-350 as a daily driver, I heard of commuter bikes, but why would you want to risk it when you can be surrounded by 7000#+ of steel. The 08+ SDs are like driving a Range more »
Latest by cgarison:
This is a really bad ad from Ford. In every other Ford Challenge, they poke direct fun at the competition and typically name a brand or picture a generic shot where a brand can be determined. Here, they more »
FoMoCo today asked dealers to stop selling the diesel-engined 2008 Super Duty F-Series pickups because apparently some of the big haulers can do something glorious. These special Super's apparently can fart fire. I kid you not, if I were in the market for a pickup truck right now, I'd totally look for one that can spew blasts of fire from the exhaust pipe. Just sayin'...although I've got to say that if you're not looking for this particular option, you're probably pretty happy Ford's not going to sell you one of them. Who knows though, maybe it's not an option, maybe it's not a defect, maybe it's just Navistar getting back at FoMoCo over thatcontractdispute. – Ray WertMore »
After the stoppage of Power Stroke delivery by FoMoCo jilted lover Navistar International, and the subsequent court order demanding both sides hug it out, we've now heard it looks like the two sides of the big Power Stroke struggle can now come together and live again in sin. According to the AP:
"Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley said the company simply wants payment for its goods. "Ford said the plant began operating one shift on March 5, two shifts on Tuesday and is expected to be back at a full three shifts of production on Monday..."Our bottom line is we want to be paid for our engines. They shouldn't be debiting anything," he said. Both sides said the dispute could be settled as soon as Thursday afternoon."
Aww, look at that adorableness. Navistar International and FoMoCo are kissing and making up. Now Navistar can keep Power Stroke's a-coming to FoMoCo so they can sell some Super Duty trucks, and FoMoCo will start paying Navistar for all of her hard work. They're such a happy couple, really they are. – Ray WertMore »
Latest by jbmadness:
no, this reflect that the 6.0 has been a thorn in Ford's side since day 1 and has only gotten control of the problems in the last two years. There are many people in our industry that have had more »
The boys and girls over at PickupTruck.com believe this mule's showing off a potential next-gen 2009 feature of the F-series truck — a tertiary set of doors into the cargo bed. It wouldn't be the first time an automaker's shown off a feature like this, as they'veChevy's shown the Cheyenne concept before. But given the very public setting these shots were supposedly taken, it certainly would be a weird way to show the world how the next-gen pickup's going to be built Ford tough. Click through for more pics and more deets from the experts. We're going to go and try to figure out what could be more suburban mom than a set of grocery doors in the side of a pickup truck. – Ray WertMore »
Latest by bryante:
And this appears just a couple of slots above a post on "The Fall Guy". Coincidence? I think not.
Sadly, few people will understand why this should be amusing. more »
And now the trilogy of advertising semi-randomness from FoMoCo is complete. In many ways we're thinking this is the last salvo of the Ford marketing team's attempt to show Alan Mulally they're relevant. And if they failed at it in any way like the second to last salvo, it's not going to end very well at all. But we digress, let's get back to the last two ads from FoMoCo's wild ride. They're a continuation of the buff mag hand-jobproduct placement we've already seen called the "Fusion Challenge." If you don't remember that's when FoMoCo sponsored a Car & Driverhappy endingproduct whoring escapade "independent test" involving the Hachette magazine's readers. In case "sponsored" isn't clear enough, here's a better pair of words to use — "paid off." Well, Car & Driver ain't the only Hachette mag involved in this little bit of intellectual reacharound action, now it includes the other ampersand-in-the-title car porn book. That's right, Road & Track was a part of the game as well, running their own little LA-based challenge, and with predictable results. The first ad's above, and the second's below the jump, along with the press release from Dearborn for some "independent" explanation of today's advertising fun. – Ray WertMore »
Latest by Al Navarro:
Would these spots make me try the Fusion over an Accord? Probably not. And the AWD vs. FWD thing really strikes me as apples vs. oranges. I'd have to look at the MSRPs, but still.
IMHO, the "creatives" more »
FoMoCo's really pushing this "Ford Challenge" tagline and we're sort of digging it. It's certainly a helluva lot better than "Bold Moves" at describing what the Dearborn-based automaker's looking to prove. I mean, it's no Iacocca-esque "If you can find a better car..." but then again, they sell more trucks than they do cars anyway. So that explains why Henry Ford's baby is all over Mike Rowe, the host of "Dirty Jobs." The man personifies the play-in-the-mud type. And playing in the mud is what at least one of these commercials is doing. The first one above is called "Leaf Springs" and yes, that's the technical term for it, but the one below the jump called "Boxed Frame" seems to insinuate other automakers use "un-boxed" frames on their competing trucks within the line-up. Interestingly enough, FoMoCo doesn't mention another automaker that uses "un-boxed" frames in their competitor to the F-150 for the 2007 model year. Which makes us wonder — does any automaker use "un-boxed" frames? We know Chevy doesn't in the new Silverado (which look to be the trucks they've got in the video), and we're pretty certain the new Toyota Tundra doesn't either. What about the others? Check out the ad and then leave your comments below 'cause well, we'd like to know. – Ray WertMore »
Latest by amclint:
The ridgeline is too much like a minivan to me...for some reason I want a truck to be more like a big cast iron pot that can take a beating, the ridgeline seems more like some snazzy tupperware to me. more »
Apparently FoMoCo's pushing up the dev cycle on their next refresh of their bread n' butter full-size haulers. According to the boys at the curvaceous Road, the next gen look will first appear on the 2009 model year of the F-150. They've paid forprocured some pictures of a bunch of franken-mules running around town, the most notable of which hints at a very "Dave"-like Gillette Fusion three-bar front end. They've got nothing else but speculation on what the rest of the sheet metal will look like, but by all means — that's what spy photos are supposed to be for, right? – Ray WertMore »
Latest by cgarison:
If there is a shame to be found in the Ford line-up it is the fact that the Crown Victoria can pull an average MPG rating above 20 MPGs while a 2wd half-ton truck is lucky to get into the more »
Reuters is reporting that Navistar International's stopped shipping big 6.4-liter Power Stroke diesel engines to FoMoCo because of a "contract dispute." The big f-ing engine is the power plant that gives the big F-Series Super Duty the get-up-and-go it needs to — you know — help the automaker become profitable again. Remember, the F-Series is the most profitable thing Ford sells, it has like a 50% market share in the Heavy Duty market, and based on estimates we've seen, FoMoCo makes an average of around $10,000 in profits on each diesel F-Series SD they ship. That being said, how bad could a shipping stoppage be for the beleaguered, bemoaning and bemortgaged (sure, why not) auto company? Bear Stearns pegs the cost of a greater-than-one-month disruption at "$11.6 billion in annualized revenue loss for Ford." That's a hella heap of cash. Oh, and, if you're wondering why the Power-Stroke-It engine sounds so familiar to you — it may be because you saw the commercial for it during the Super Bowl pre-game (see it again below the jump). Marketing something in the Super Bowl you don't have to sell? Sounds like money well spent to us. – Ray WertMore »
Latest by etmccaus:
Tonsoffun,
Only diesel one can get in a '550 is a Powerstroke.
And yes, you can get CAT and Cummins motors in a '650 or '750 - but the point is, the entire truck is built by Navistar.
If the J/V goes down, more »
Reuters is reporting Ford's second-largest Ford dealer, Group 1 Automotive
"is struggling to lower its inventory of the No. 2 U.S. automaker's vehicles following the dramatic slide in sales of Ford F-Series pickup trucks...the company had 113 days' supply of Ford vehicles at the end of the fourth quarter, far higher than the 97 days' supply of vehicles from General Motors or 68 days' supply of DaimlerChrysler..."
Doesn't sound like things are getting much better after January's 19% decline in sales, and probably doesn't bode well for the rest of FoMoCo's dealers. Is it time for a new Way Forward(TM)...again? We dunno — but we do know if FoMoCo doesn't do something quickly, it'll have the American Revolution's new truck nipping at its heels, singing "Our Country" as it takes over the top truck spot. – Ray WertMore »
Latest by smokyburnout:
this isnt really surprising... the GMT900 silverado/sierra has really caught up with the F150, which is like 3 years old now, and theres prolly less diehard american truckers who will swing for that new tundra... and theres always the ram... more »
We've gotten our hands on some cool-to-watch and tech-heavy 15-second teaser ads for the Super Bowl ad campaign launch of the 2008 Ford F-Whatever Super Duty. The one above is a CAD-based build of the new 6.4L Power Stroke diesel engine with dual turbos and the second teaser commercial, in the same out-of-thin-air fashion, highlights all the little parts that make up the new (and useful) tailgate step. There's also a third teaser which is nothing more than a jarring drop of the big metal "Ford" badge dropped onto concrete. Although the third one's silly, the other two are cool as hell to watch. But the problem I've got is I'm not sure what they're going to do to sell the truck to the target pro-'merican demographic. Especially since earlier this week we heard that FoMoCo, despite losing $12.7 billion in 2006 and a turnaround plan forecasting a 2007 loss, plans no cuts in it's marketing budget. It's almost like the sell-it-on-TV team's gone to CEO Alan Mulally and said "Yeah boss, the ads aren't selling product, but whatevs — let's drop more money down that abyss while we've still got it!" I guess we'll have to wait for Super Bowl Sunday to find out for sure what the full 60-second ad will look like during the pre-game festivities, but for now we're just going to appreciate it for the techie coolness, and set our gnawing doubts on efficacy aside. In case you don't remember what the Super Duty is, we've got a gallery below as a reminder, and the second and third teaser commercials below the jump. – Ray WertMore »
Latest by Zanary:
"Buy a Chevy truck if you want to spend less time fixing it."
All my years around the parts and repair industry make that statement hilarious!
Hell, the C/K series used up Idler and Pitman arms like candy...while the motors were on more »
I just asked a FoMoCo-PR-Bro how a scrappy writer like me could get into a truck like the one pictured above. His response? "A ladder." I've been sparring deep into the comment section of Mr. Mehta's screed (it was a screed, right?) concerning our country's truck. Readers appear upset that Sajeev refused to simply call the new Chevy apple pie and be done with it. Tempers have flared and teh internets tough guys are out in force. As I have stated many times, unless you are hauling cords of wood or removing trees, here in our country, pickups are much more frequently a lifestyle statement than they are useful, practical and/or responsible. Look, if you got your dirt in Boss Kean's ditch then by all means grab a dirt-hauler and git-r-done. But if you just have a tremendously small penis, dude, no one cares but your wife. – Jonny LiebermanMore »
Latest by TexansAreHot:
Yeah, but when you can drive over every other truck with your nine-foot-tall wheels and keep rolling at a reasonable speed, front crash tests really don't mean shit to you. more »
Apparently there's a part of the Toby Keith "Ford truck man" song we must have missed. It's a part of the song that must not have reached the commercials, where Keith pulls out a pocket protector and a tablet PC — and then says
"If you're the type of man who needs to surf the web and check your e-mail on the go, and do it from a ruggedized tablet platform running off of an AMD Geode LX 800 chipset, then you're probably a Ford truck man."
Keith must have said it — because with FoMoCo's new FordLink Mobile Office system, they've gone and done just that — come up with a way to integarate a tablet PC built by Azentek into your Ford truck — acting as the trucks GPS unit, satellite radio system, and surfer of Pr0n. FoMoCo claims it's a system designed for folks who use their truck as their office and want a simplified dealer-installed way to make sure their road office has the same amenities as their real office — namely a computer. We had the opportunity to do a test-run with the system, available only for FoMoCo's Super-Duty trucks, at the automaker's SEMA pre-show blowout two weeks ago, and the video above's the result. Also check out the gallery below and the full specs on the unit below the jump. – Ray WertMore »
Latest by wohho:
Internet Explorer 6, how passe. I wonder if you can just order the tablet and not the truck? Is this the beginning of Ford's shift to the PC market. Will the take rate of this option pay for the development more »
The second pimped-out performance ride we had the opportunity to taste this morning at the Dearborn Development Center was a meaty F-150 pickup seasoned with an FX2 package and then spiced-out with add-on accessories straight from the pages of Ford accessories catalogs. That's the message the FoMoCo media mommies were pushing today — that this pickup with pick-up (the 5.4 liter V8 delivers 450hp to be precise, thanks to a Ford racing screw-type supercharger with ceramic-coated headers and Ford Racing side exhausts) could be designed by any die-hard Ford truck man (or woman, I'm sure) just by checking the right boxes on FoMoCo's in-house parts catalog. In addition to some neat little touches to the outside of the truck including a dark billet grille, headlamp treatments, monochromatic paint and "unique wheels" it also sports some neat techie features like headrest mounted video entertainment units for the little 'uns and a line-in on the top of the dashboard — plus it's got a hard fiberglass tonneau cover to close-up the rear end from the elements. But despite the interior prettiness, as you can see from the photo above, the most attractive feature are the 450 horses under the hood, giving you more than enough go to take care of getting your ass to the job site and back in style. Smokey burnouts not included. Full gallery via the link below. – Ray WertMore »
Latest by danio3834:
Either that truck had some serious traction problems, which is probably the case...or it wasn't running properly...500lb-ft at 3000 rpm should put that f-150 down into the 13s easily. more »
Jalopnik
Ford announced today that it was delaying the release of their 2009 Ford F-150 on the heels of GM's announcement that they would likely delay the development of the replacement for their GMT900 platform. Obviously, the merger of high gas prices and the F-150 getting thumped by the Civic has convinced Ford it also needs to cut the production of its older models. Resources are also shifting toward the Edge, Flex and smaller cars like the Focus. In a frank statement, CEO Alan Mullaly said "We view the move to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles as permanent and we are responding to customer demand." Press release below the jump.
More »
