7Mary3

If they want to sell any to UPS they will.

Interesting development. So it would seem that Blue Bird is taking over Detroit Chassis and will be designing the next generation F-53 and F-59, with Ford continuing to supply the powertrain and service. I believe the current F-53 and F-59 are Ford designed, and Ford contracted their manufacture out to Detroit Chassis. Funny thing, I was expecting the manufacture of the F-53 and F-59 would move to Avon Lake when Ford introduced the 650/750 medium duty line to that plant, as both series of vehicles are straight-frame type and very similar. I believe the contract to have Detroit Chassis build the F-53 and F-59 started when Ford turned KTP over to Super Duty production. Sorry Joe, I don't think you are going to see the Ford 'Blue Oval' on any 'Blue Bird' products as Blue Bird is also taking over sales of the F-53 and F-59 and will likely brand them as such. It's their chassis now, although it will still have a Ford engine. Still, I consider it a win-win for Ford. There's very little profit is stripped chassis, and this gets Ford out of the responsibility for design, manufacture, and sales. The major player in the chassis business is FCCC (Freightliner) and they are a tough competitor with a great product. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260805699829/en/Blue-Bird-Enters-Definitive-Agreement-with-Ford-to-Expand-Commercial-Stripped-Chassis-Operations

Heavy truck sales are a bright spot, up almost 10% and nearly 1000 units/month! All kidding aside, I was expecting lower as it would seem U-Haul is switching to Peterbilt for their class 6 trucks.

Wet timing belts are the worst of both worlds. I wouldn't own a vehicle with them, though there are been some instances where non-toothed wet oil pump belts have proved successful.

Darn! I was hoping there was some dark conspiracy to all this. And a new $15,000 F-150 painted in some oddball color...

You know IH completely redesigned the chassis of the light duty trucks in 1975 to accommodate their new 'big block' MV 404 and 446 V-8's. The MV's were not ready in '75 but were sheduled for '76. Halfway through the '75 model year IH gave up on the light trucks and Travelalls. The MV V-8's had nowhere to go, IH began to offer them in some of their medium duty trucks and sold a handful to Dodge for motorhome chassis. As it turned out the debacle turned into a win for Ford, IH modified the MV gas V-8 into the 6.9L diesel and was finally able to make some money off that substantial tooling investment.

I think if the Scout was offered as a conventional ICE with a hybrid option, and was sold through a conventional dealer (even if it was VW) it might have a chance. But, it appears the Scout will be a BEV primarily with a hybrid option, and will be sold direct from the manufacturer (a la Tesla). Given VW's penchant for for screwing things up royally what could possibly go right? I still can't figure out how they screwed up the I D Buzz...

I find the new Scout very interesting, but given the current turmoil at VAG there is a good chance that this thing may not happen.

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.