Ford CEO Touts New U.S.-Built 'Affordable' ICE-Powered Truck at Trump Factory Visit

[akirby]

40 minutes ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

The first gen Sport Trac was based on the Second Gen Explorer platform and the second gen Sport Track was a completely different animal because it had a 4.6L in it that the Ranger never offered. I want to say that the post 2002 Explorer and 2007 Sport Trac had IRS also?

 

The Ranger more or less had no updates post 1993 outside of some sheet metal or a new I4 in it. 

I owned a 93 explorer, 95 ranger and 97 explorer.  They were almost identical.  They made more changes to Explorer going forward but it was still the same basic platform.   But in the end sport trac was still just an updated 4 door Ranger.

 

Quote

The second-generation Ford Explorer is based upon the Ford U1 platform shared with its predecessor, adopting the UN105/UN150 model codes. Introducing key chassis upgrades that were also shared with the 1998 Ford Ranger, the long-running Twin I-Beam/Twin Traction Beam front suspension was retired in favor of a short/long-arm (SLA) wishbone front suspension configuration in order to accommodate larger engines.

 

Edited January 16 by akirby

[jpd80]

4 hours ago, Texasota said:

But would those do justice to the "affordable ICE truck" and "different kind of truck" statements from Ford and Farley?

Not surprised with that sort of  push back on the two vehicles I suggested, both  have cost issues.

 

I really don’t know but whatever it is, it will have to fit between Ranger and F150 starting price

 

[akirby]

8 hours ago, jpd80 said:

Not surprised with that sort of  push back on the two vehicles I suggested, both  have cost issues.

 

I really don’t know but whatever it is, it will have to fit between Ranger and F150 starting price

 

I disagree.  It has to be cheaper than Ranger.  I bet it's sub $30k.

[Biker16]

I wonder if this will make it into production before the next administration arrives.

[Texasota]

1 hour ago, Biker16 said:

I wonder if this will make it into production before the next administration arrives.

Ford says production in 2029. The answer would appear to be no.

[rmc523]

15 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

IMO the Sport Trac was a better vehicle for every day driving vs the more primitive Ranger of the era. 

sure, but the Sport Trac of that era is essentially a current 4-door Ranger (which wasn’t offered at the time).

 

i don’t see what a current da Sport Trac (I.e. Explorer-based) would really offer that would make it a worthwhile addition to the lineup

[twintornados]

Don't worry.....in between now and the proposed launch date - the product will be cancelled and the factory either renamed or sold. 

[bzcat]

I think we are just looking at a 2nd T6 plant in the US. Don't over think it...

 

Lots of things Ford can do with T6 since it is the 3rd most important vehicle program globally after F-150 and Transit. Previously the investment was limited to one plant in the US because Ford needed to limit volume for CAFE considerations. Now there is no such concern so I'm betting Ford will add PHEV options to Bronco and Ranger, add extended cab Ranger, Everest, a Lincoln SUV, and probably a cheaper smaller truck similar to Toyota's Hilux Champ which is based on the Hilux chassis just smaller/cheaper. All this implies Ford will need another T6 plant as the current T6 plant is already on 3 shifts.

 

 

Edited January 16 by bzcat

[Biker16]

1 hour ago, Texasota said:

Ford says production in 2029. The answer would appear to be no.

 

[Biker16]

1 hour ago, twintornados said:

Don't worry.....in between now and the proposed launch date - the product will be cancelled and the factory either renamed or sold. 

 Am I the only person who thinks upgrading an existing plant that already makes ICE vehicles like FRAP would have been smarter in the current political environment than building a new greenfield plant? 

Even if you had to idle FRAP for a year, you could easily build enough mustangs to meet demand during that downtime, and you would have a modern, retooled factory for the mustang and future products, at lower cost.

[Texasota]

12 minutes ago, bzcat said:

I'm betting Ford will add PHEV options to Bronco and Ranger, add extended cab Ranger, Everest, a Lincoln SUV, and probably a cheaper smaller truck similar to Toyota's Hilux Champ which is based on the Hilux chassis just smaller/cheaper. 

Ford has emphatically stated that the Ranger PHEV and the Ranger Super Duty are not coming to North America. Ford is of course referring to the current Aussie versions of those two Rangers. 
 

I suppose it is possible that they could introduce a Ranger EREV to North America. Is that what you are thinking?

[mackinaw]

48 minutes ago, Biker16 said:

 Am I the only person who thinks upgrading an existing plant that already makes ICE vehicles like FRAP would have been smarter in the current political environment than building a new greenfield plant? 

Even if you had to idle FRAP for a year, you could easily build enough mustangs to meet demand during that downtime, and you would have a modern, retooled factory for the mustang and future products, at lower cost.

 

Farley seems to say that adding shifts to existing U.S. plants is in the works.  He said this on Tuesday when Trump visited Dearborn Assembly.  From the Detroit News:

 

"Ford produces more vehicles in the United States, employs more hourly employees and exports more vehicles than any other automaker, but there's more that still can be done, Farley said about the message he gave to President Donald Trump during a visit on Tuesday to Dearborn Truck Plant that builds F-150 pickups: "At Ford, America's car company, we have more shifts that we can put on in our plants here in the U.S., and we have more to do."

[jpd80]

5 hours ago, akirby said:

I disagree.  It has to be cheaper than Ranger.  I bet it's sub $30k.

A sub $30k starting price in 2029?

By that time, I doubt you’d get a Maverick for that starting price

which is why I’m cautious about what Ford considers affordable 

but I do agree that the. objective here is to occupy the price space

below F150 and Explorer  which is approximately $38k.

 

I bet Ford is looking at Tacoma sales success and wondering how

it can compete with that  by delivering a better truck than Ranger,

could Ford split F150 /1500 market into say, F100 and F200 or,

keep F150 and add a new F truck below absorbing Ranger sales?

 

So yes, mostly agree with your view but wondering how Ford gets there…..

 

 

 

 

Edited January 16 by jpd80

[DeluxeStang]

3 hours ago, twintornados said:

Don't worry.....in between now and the proposed launch date - the product will be cancelled and the factory either renamed or sold. 

It'll be delayed, then canceled, then brought back to life, only to be canceled again. 

[Sherminator98]

5 hours ago, Biker16 said:

 Am I the only person who thinks upgrading an existing plant that already makes ICE vehicles like FRAP would have been smarter in the current political environment than building a new greenfield plant? 

Even if you had to idle FRAP for a year, you could easily build enough mustangs to meet demand during that downtime, and you would have a modern, retooled factory for the mustang and future products, at lower cost.

 

It boils down to sunk cost fallacy to a point.

 

You'd basically have to completely rebuild FRAP in a higher expense area vs Tennessee

 

Also keep in mind it was supposed to be an EV plant, so it had/has battery production plants next to it.

If you knew what you know now, maybe Ford would have gone that route...

[ausrutherford]

If it is going to be sub-$30,000, then I wonder if it would actually be smaller than the Maverick. 

 

Fiat Strada sized:

 

I mean if you are going to expand the truck lineup, then subcompact is the only way to go since you already cover compact, mid-size, full size, etc. 

[HotRunrGuy]

4 minutes ago, ausrutherford said:

If it is going to be sub-$30,000, then I wonder if it would actually be smaller than the Maverick. 

 

Fiat Strada sized:

 

I mean if you are going to expand the truck lineup, then subcompact is the only way to go since you already cover compact, mid-size, full size, etc. 

If VW gets to share the Ranger platform, it's only fair for VW to dust off the tooling for the Rabbit pickup and give Ford a version,,,,,,

 

HRG

[jpd80]

5 hours ago, HotRunrGuy said:

If VW gets to share the Ranger platform, it's only fair for VW to dust off the tooling for the Rabbit pickup and give Ford a version,,,,,,

 

HRG

Or use the Tourneo Connect to deliver a sub-Maverick pickup….

 

 

 

[DeluxeStang]

11 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

Or use the Tourneo Connect to deliver a sub-Maverick pickup….

 

 

 

I just... I struggle to see a market for a truck smaller than a maverick, and I say that as a maverick owner. It's a really good truck for me, but if it was any smaller, I feel like it would become pretty useless as a truck. The only way to get around that is with a 2 door, longer bed configuration. But then we know the market for 2 door trucks is super small right now. 

 

I feel like Fords truck lineup is so saturated right now that everything we come up with feels like it's gonna be a really niche product. Compact trucks, Ridgeline rivals, a new ranchero, etc. A bronco BOF truck would be badass, but wouldn't be that affordable. 

 

Maybe they'll put something out that really impresses us, who knows. 

[jpd80]

2 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

I just... I struggle to see a market for a truck smaller than a maverick, and I say that as a maverick owner. It's a really good truck for me, but if it was any smaller, I feel like it would become pretty useless as a truck. The only way to get around that is with a 2 door, longer bed configuration. But then we know the market for 2 door trucks is super small right now. 

 

I feel like Fords truck lineup is so saturated right now that everything we come up with feels like it's gonna be a really niche product. Compact trucks, Ridgeline rivals, a new ranchero, etc. A bronco BOF truck would be badass, but wouldn't be that affordable. 

 

Maybe they'll put something out that really impresses us, who knows. 

Yes, the small pickup can be ruled out as non-starter  by Ford and not what US buyers would be after

I think the new vehicle will be below F150 but not so low as to be near Maverick, an ICE adaptation 

of CE1 would be an interesting development, especially with Gigacastings possibly making it close

to the strength of a small BOF but much lighter…

 

[Sherminator98]

The other issue with a small pickup is that if CAFE rules are changed again, it might really struggle with that...

 

[akirby]

13 hours ago, ausrutherford said:

If it is going to be sub-$30,000, then I wonder if it would actually be smaller than the Maverick. 

 

Fiat Strada sized:

 

I mean if you are going to expand the truck lineup, then subcompact is the only way to go since you already cover compact, mid-size, full size, etc. 

 

Given how Ford likes to wordsmith, I see 3 possibilities.

 

Something smaller than Maverick.  Keeps the cost down but there isn't a big market there.

A new less expensive Maverick with more options and trims.

A midsize unibody slightly bigger than Maverick offering hybrids.  This would compete overlap with Ranger which is why I suggested it replaces Ranger but now I don't think that's likely.  
 

I now think a lower cost Maverick replacement is most likely with a low cost street model si,ilar to Maverick but also higher end models based on Bronco Sport.

 

Or something completely different.  Who the hell knows at this point.

Edited January 17 by akirby

[T-dubz]

Just from looking at the graphic below, maybe there is a gap between ranger and f150. If this happened, I think it would cause the ranger to eventually go away. Maybe this is a knee jerk reaction to the slate and they are going with a super small truck? 

[twintornados]

Maybe Ford is getting ready for a reset of F150 in both size and pricing...

[Captainp4]

I mean, there's room between ranger and f150 for an f100 and room between f150 and superduty for an f200 when looking at payload/towing... but I don't think either of those would fit in the affordable range unless they were just stripped down versions of the respective bigger one and "affordable" compared to that.