7Mary3

Ford currently does not have a powertrain, chassis, or dealer network for a class 8 truck. Nor to they seem to have any desire to enter that market, which is probably wise. I would be willing to wager Ford's excellent heavy truck joint venture in Turkey will eventually join IVECO. Regradless it's not coming here. You may recall Freightliner briefly entered the class 3-5 market with such products as the Ram-based Sterling Bullet, a few re-branded Mitsubishi Fuso's, and of course the Sprinter van and its derivatives back in the mid-2000's. From what I understand most of their dealers, both Freightliner and Sterling, didn't want any part of it. The Sprinter wound up with it's own light commercial dealer network.

I think bzcat is right on the mark. And, Ford's strategy is apparent looking at their Pro Dealers. You don't see the large 'Ford Truck' center commercial dealers anymore that sold everything up to class 8, open all night, located near major interstate highways, etc.. Ford Pro dealers are targeted at smaller fleets, and are primarily light duty up to class 5, and are usually part of a car/light truck franchise. That's where Ford's market is, and if they can sell a few class 6 and 7 trucks to their targeted customers fine. Good point about Isuzu as well. Some years ago (at Roger Penske's behest) Hino went into the class 6/7 conventional market with some success. Isuzu actually followed for a short time with a Isuzu-badged version of the Chevy Kodak with an Isuzu 6HK1 diesel in it, but very few were sold. Since then Isuzu has struggled meeting demand and focused on class 3 through 5 LCF's. Isuzu has relied on both GM and Spartan Motors to assemble their trucks in the U.S. for many years, but is now building a large new plant in South Carolina. I expect Isuzu to gain market share and explore new commercial truck segments when that plant comes on line.

Again, maybe that's a valid point with class 3 through 5 Super Duty trucks but the 650's and 750's are a different ball game anyway and aside from similar powertrains (and similar powertrain problems!) they don't share much. If the fleet has vehicles up through class 7 and 8 it would probably be better to source their class 6 trucks from the same vendor they get the larger trucks from if they are looking for consistancy. Which is what I see and is consistant with my own fleet experiences.

Well, I could see where dropping the 450 thru 600 Super Duty models might have an effect on fleet sales of the lighter Super Duty trucks, but at this point I don't think dropping the 650 and 750 models would have any effect on sales of other Ford trucks, fleet or otherwise. Purely an anecdotal observation on my part, but I would say that the majority of large fleets that I see with class 3 through 5 Fords in their fleet are soucing their class 6 and larger trucks from PACCAR, International, and Freightliner.

I am hearing from a couple of sources a rumor that one of the reasons U-Haul went to Peterbilt/Cummins for their larger trucks is due to problems with the 7.3L gas engine. This one may have come out of a U-Haul truck:

That was a good video about U-Haul. Very interesting perspective.

We covered this back in March... That having been said, I don't think it will mean much for Ford. GM and International have been ramping down production of these trucks and their respective dealers have known for some that the joint venture agreement would not be renewed after this September. Word is GM will have a new class 4-5 version of their upcoming 2029 Silverado HD's and will continue their relationship with Isuzu.

I have seen those. Basically a heavy duty F-100 with F-250 axles, front hubs, and wheels. Theory behind the F-130 was to address component shortages.

Ford seems to think their dealers shouldn't be able to fix their cars either.

Hey, F-650/750 sales are up slightly! But at the pace they are going they won't break 10k sales this year.

By the same token why would Peterbilt willingly sell products to a particular customer at a loss when other buyers will gladly pay more for their superior product? There may be a projected life-cycle cost factor at work here too. Or Peterbilt (PACCAR) wants to run Ford out of the class 6 and 7 truck market by going after one of their best customers aggresively.

That's a question- did Peterbilt underbid Ford or did they built U-Haul a 'dream' truck that U-Haul is willing to pay extra for? In this case there are 2 factors to consider. Of course a Peterbilt 536 is quite a bit more than the F-650, and the Cummins 'Octane' is not that much cheaper than a B6.7 diesel. Sure Peterbilt can squeeze the price a bit, but I don't see how Peterbilt can come close to Ford's price.

I know Ford puts Pro Elite dealers through the wringer, but they all seem to be doing well, at least around me. Maybe you are right, the owner wanted to sell out.

This is a ltlle distressing: https://fordauthority.com/2026/05/ford-dealer-declares-bankruptcy-after-expansion-efforts-stall-out/ A Ford Pro Elite dealer is supposed to be a license to print money.

Penske buys diesel class 6, U-Haul does not. Ford had a good customer in U-Haul, since GM dropped the gasoline TopKick/Kodiak Ford had U-Haul's class 6 sales all to themselves.