New Light & Medium Duty News

[7Mary3]

A couple of things:

 

First off, the 650 and 750 have been voted Work Truck medium duty truck of the year, for whatever that it worth:

https://www.worktruckonline.com/10256168/ford-f-650-f-750-wins-2026-medium-duty-truck-of-the-year-award

 

Second, Freightliner is introducing the Cummins B6.7 Octane gasoline engine along with the ZF Powerline automatic 8 speed in the M2 medium duty:

https://www.worktruckonline.com/10256265/zf-8-speed-powerline-transmission-launches-on-freightliner-m2-106-plus-at-work-t

 

The Freightliner announcement is a little distressing for Ford as it represents a lower cost class 6/7 gasoline competitor for the 650/750. 

[twintornados]

2 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

Second, Freightliner is introducing the Cummins B6.7 Octane gasoline engine along with the ZF Powerline automatic 8 speed in the M2 medium duty:

https://www.worktruckonline.com/10256265/zf-8-speed-powerline-transmission-launches-on-freightliner-m2-106-plus-at-work-t

 

The Freightliner announcement is a little distressing for Ford as it represents a lower cost class 6/7 gasoline competitor for the 650/750. 

 

I have read (don't remember where) that thus far, the Cummins 6.7 Octane has been a flop and pairing it with the ZF transmission will likely not help it.  

[7Mary3]

41 minutes ago, twintornados said:

 

I have read (don't remember where) that thus far, the Cummins 6.7 Octane has been a flop and pairing it with the ZF transmission will likely not help it.  

 

I don't know that it's a flop as of yet, but it was late to market.  Kenworth announced they would offer it in their medium duty line last year but I believe the trucks are just now available.  The ZF Powerline 8 speed is the transmission that Ram is now offering in Cummins powered HD's.  I suspect it is less expensive than an Allison transmission.  Kenworth is going to use an automated PACCAR transmission with the 6.7 Octane.  I have not priced the gasoline Kenworth but I suspect it will be expensive.   

Edited March 17 by 7Mary3

[Bob Rosadini]

20 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

A couple of things:

 

First off, the 650 and 750 have been voted Work Truck medium duty truck of the year, for whatever that it worth:

https://www.worktruckonline.com/10256168/ford-f-650-f-750-wins-2026-medium-duty-truck-of-the-year-award

 

Second, Freightliner is introducing the Cummins B6.7 Octane gasoline engine along with the ZF Powerline automatic 8 speed in the M2 medium duty:

https://www.worktruckonline.com/10256265/zf-8-speed-powerline-transmission-launches-on-freightliner-m2-106-plus-at-work-t

 

The Freightliner announcement is a little distressing for Ford as it represents a lower cost class 6/7 gasoline competitor for the 650/750. 

7m

I think your last sentence would be more accurate if you delete..."a lower cost cost".

True statement..it IS another gasoline conventional in class 6 and 7.  As to "lower cost", I  find that hard  to believe.

[7Mary3]

1 hour ago, Bob Rosadini said:

7m

I think your last sentence would be more accurate if you delete..."a lower cost cost".

True statement..it IS another gasoline conventional in class 6 and 7.  As to "lower cost", I  find that hard  to believe.

 

I don't think the Freightliner will cost less than the Ford, but I think it will be a lot closer than the Kenworth.  Our fleet went Freightliner years ago because after taking upfit costs into consideration, the Freightliner truck was less expensive 'turn key' than the Ford was.  That certainly may not be the case with many buyers (van, platform, etc.) but the point is I expect the M2/Octane will be priced close enough to the F-650 gasoline that it may cost Ford some sales.

 

Edited March 18 by 7Mary3

[twintornados]

31 minutes ago, 7Mary3 said:

 

I don't think the Freightliner will cost less than the Ford, but I think it will be a lot closer than the Kenworth.  Our fleet went Freightliner years ago because after taking upfit costs into consideration, the Freightliner truck was less expensive 'turn key' than the Ford was.  That certainly may not be the case with many buyers (van, platform, etc.) but the point is I expect the M2/Octane will be priced close enough to the F-650 gasoline that it may cost Ford some sales.

ord  

 

The fact the Ford makes both the engine AND the transmission instead of having to buy them both from an outside vendor is a serious advantage for Ford. 

[7Mary3]

11 minutes ago, twintornados said:

 

The fact the Ford makes both the engine AND the transmission instead of having to buy them both from an outside vendor is a serious advantage for Ford. 

 

Very true, and the only reason Ford is still in class 6 and 7.

[GearheadGrrrl]

Half a century ago when Ford had to pay premium prices for the engines, transmissions, and axles that went in to its heavy trucks most of the profit went to the suppliers of those components. Ford's solution to that "problem" was to pretty much exit the heavy truck market. Meanwhile, truck makers with a longer term view like Daimler, VW Group, Volvo, and Paccar invested in their own powertrain components and reaped the profits Ford forsake. 

 

Nowadays with a mass produced gas engine and transmission under a cab that was amortized decades ago, Ford is the low cost supplier in the market for cheap Class 6 and 7 gas powered trucks. But just one chassis component that has to be moved or a missing essential option and Ford ain't so cheap...

[Joe771476]

Nice unit, 7 minutes

(82) FORD F-550 FIRE TRUCK BUILD | QTAC SUPER 6™ - YouTube

[Joe771476]

Another interesting vehicle: C750 camper trailer

 

https://share.google/ocHVMmkpcDb5OUHYI

[7Mary3]

https://www.worktruckonline.com/10256609/california-restrictions-no-longer-apply-to-ford-f-550-f-600-diesel-chassis-cabs

[7Mary3]

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2026/03/chevy-silverado-md-production-to-end-this-year/?utm_source=gmauthority.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=biggest-chevy-silverado-will-end-production-this-year&_bhlid=4ff55b8692899beaafd76a66c32b1ddaa65983c7

 

 

[Bob Rosadini]

17 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2026/03/chevy-silverado-md-production-to-end-this-year/?utm_source=gmauthority.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=biggest-chevy-silverado-will-end-production-this-year&_bhlid=4ff55b8692899beaafd76a66c32b1ddaa65983c7

 

 

Thx, never knew the original agreement had such a term limit.  Ford should benefit from this but I would bet they will be indifferent to this opportunity.

In voting my Ford shares yesterday I ended up on a Ford site that listed products.  I clicked on trucks and guess what, no class 5, 6, or 7 trucks listed!

Handwriting on the wall??

On another note, I took the time to read the bio for each director.  Aside from the four family members and Farley, the rest of the proposed directors appeared to me to be HR, financial, or PR types with no what I would call "heavy manufacturing" experience, with one exception, that being Mr. May, Deeres CEO.

Hopefully Bill Ford's commercial truck experience in his bio will bring some perspective, to say nothing of fact he is Chairman.

[rmc523]

1 hour ago, Bob Rosadini said:

Thx, never knew the original agreement had such a term limit.  Ford should benefit from this but I would bet they will be indifferent to this opportunity.

In voting my Ford shares yesterday I ended up on a Ford site that listed products.  I clicked on trucks and guess what, no class 5, 6, or 7 trucks listed!

Handwriting on the wall??

On another note, I took the time to read the bio for each director.  Aside from the four family members and Farley, the rest of the proposed directors appeared to me to be HR, financial, or PR types with no what I would call "heavy manufacturing" experience, with one exception, that being Mr. May, Deeres CEO.

Hopefully Bill Ford's commercial truck experience in his bio will bring some perspective, to say nothing of fact he is Chairman.

 

So you're complaining about some random Ford site not having the MDs....

 

They're right here on Ford's website.......

 

[bzcat]

I've only seen 1 Silverado MD in the wild. Meanwhile I probably see a dozen F-450/550/600 a day. 

[7Mary3]

1 hour ago, Bob Rosadini said:

Thx, never knew the original agreement had such a term limit.  Ford should benefit from this but I would bet they will be indifferent to this opportunity.

 

 

Don't know how much opportunity it will end up being.  From what I hear GM has known for nearly 2 years that International would not be renewing the contract because they ultimately planned to sell the Springfield plant.  This also explains why GM never updated the Silverado mediums as they had supposedly planned (gasoline engine, air brakes, etc.).  Rumor is that GM looked at partnering with another truck manufacturer to continue the program but may have decided (like Ford) to bring their medium duty truck back 'in-house'.    

[twintornados]

2 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

...Rumor is that GM looked at partnering with another truck manufacturer to continue the program but may have decided (like Ford) to bring their medium duty truck back 'in-house'.    

 

Well, looking at their offerings, it would be an interesting turn of events and also validate that Ford was correct when they moved away from Navistar and brought their Mediums in-house. The only issue I see is that in GM world, everything rises and sets on the "small block" Chevrolet design and they really need to develop a bespoke "truck" motor, if not, their rumored move "in-house" will be short lived. 

[Bob Rosadini]

20 hours ago, rmc523 said:

 

So you're complaining about some random Ford site not having the MDs....

 

They're right here on Ford's website.......

 

I'm very familiar with that web site.  So you are saying that it is ok for one Ford web site to be inconsistent with another??  And more importantly, if I found this Ford site while logging on to vote my shares- if I were another Ford shareholder that was considering buying more shares and wanted a better understanding of the product mix, this failure to carry class 5, 6, and 7 trucks would be acceptable????🤔

[rmc523]

Just now, Bob Rosadini said:

I'm very familiar with that web site.  So you are saying that it is ok for one Ford web site to be inconsistent with another??  And more importantly, if I found this Ford site while logging on to vote my shares- if I were another Ford shareholder that was considering buying more shares and wanted a better understanding of the product mix, this failure to carry class 5, 6, and 7 trucks would be acceptable????🤔

 

You haven't even said what Ford site you're talking about, just "Ford site".

[akirby]

2 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:

I'm very familiar with that web site.  So you are saying that it is ok for one Ford web site to be inconsistent with another??  And more importantly, if I found this Ford site while logging on to vote my shares- if I were another Ford shareholder that was considering buying more shares and wanted a better understanding of the product mix, this failure to carry class 5, 6, and 7 trucks would be acceptable????🤔

But that's the only official Ford website.  Anything else is probably a dealer site which Ford doesn't control.

[Bob Rosadini]

7 hours ago, akirby said:

But that's the only official Ford website.  Anything else is probably a dealer site which Ford doesn't control.

Could be, but what threw me was it was 

[Bob Rosadini]

9 minutes ago, Bob Rosadini said:

Could be, but what threw me was it was 

AK........As I was saying....It came up on the the log in to vote my shares..and perhaps it was another "senior" moment, but I'm sure it followed the proxy statement with a Ford "menu".

However, as I've previously posted, New England Ford Dealers have run TV spots this winter featuring typical snow plow footage but also a shot featuring a 650/750 dump pulling a tag trailer carrying a loader/backhoe.

[iamweasel]

FYI - On the Freightliner side, you can get an Allison (29XX model, 9-speed) or the ZF transmission (8-speed) with the Cummins Octane engine.   The transmissions are about the same cost, so I suspect most will choose Allison.   

 

However, for the same spec, the Octane engine will cost ~ $8,500 **MORE**  than the B6.7 diesel this year......so yeah, good luck with that Freightliner.  I don't expect many buyers to go for that.   That's way out of whack to where it needs to be as most customers will expect the gas motor to be cheaper.     

[7Mary3]

1 hour ago, iamweasel said:

FYI - On the Freightliner side, you can get an Allison (29XX model, 9-speed) or the ZF transmission (8-speed) with the Cummins Octane engine.   The transmissions are about the same cost, so I suspect most will choose Allison.   

 

However, for the same spec, the Octane engine will cost ~ $8,500 **MORE**  than the B6.7 diesel this year......so yeah, good luck with that Freightliner.  I don't expect many buyers to go for that.   That's way out of whack to where it needs to be as most customers will expect the gas motor to be cheaper.     

 

Well that makes no sense.  Wonder what the pricing is for the Kenworth.

 

 

[iamweasel]

6 minutes ago, 7Mary3 said:

 

Well that makes no sense.  Wonder what the pricing is for the Kenworth.

 

 

 

Not sure on PACCAR yet but I feel it will end up about the same (octane costing more) as Freightliner insists the increase is coming from the Cummins side - they aren't padding their profits on the Octane.  Freightliner says Cummins is charging a lot more for the Octane compared to the current B6.7.   

 

Maybe this is temporary as once the new 27CY engines come, and the B7.2 right behind it, that could flip-flop where the Octane is cheaper.   As things stand now, I am hearing the B7.2 will end up ~ $10-20K more than the current B6.7.   (Unless there are changes to some of the emissions rules and/or changes to the standard engine/emissions warranty requirements for 27-28CY.)