Because they have good low cost platforms shared with Hyundai so they can focus more on top hats ands new EVs.
Had Ford moved to global c2, cd6 and T6 15 years ago and not wasted so much money on interim/duplicate platforms and not been so aggressive with ecoboost and done hybrids across the board and started ce1 earlier then Ford would be in a better position to do more frequent refreshes.
If I remember correctly, the HN-80 class 8 cab was marginal at best and would have taken a major investment to fix....proof of that is just how long in remained when Ford Heavy became Sterling....it was discontinued and the entire Sterling line was folded into Frieghtliner and Western Star....if Ford could come out with a F-Series based cab for "Baby class 8" (class 7 1/2??) vocational tractors, maybe, just maybe there could be a case but Ford does not make the axles, suspension pieces, or even the proper engines required for Class 8....sure, they could bring over Ecotorq from either Ford Otosan of Turkey or Ford JMC of China....but they would be tariff-ed to death killing any profit margin.....I do think they need to remain in class 6 and 7 for sure....but class 8? That will be a tough call with the investors.
Maybe just import JMC as is and have Ford Commercial service it? Look how long Caterpiller stayed in Class 8 over the road trucks...they were in and gone in a flash....Same for Autocar.....I never even saw one on the road....are they still around?
Ok, but Kia also doesn't have the profit from the 1M trucks/SUVs either, yet is still able to put out refreshes/redesigns AND an array of new EV products like clockwork.
I had the thermostat housing replaced a year ago. My guy was honest enough to tell me the t stat sensor was bad and covered under his warranty. All is well.
How do you know the absence of class 8 didn't hurt lower class sales and that the possible end of class 6 & 7 wouldn't cause further lower class sales? I keep saying but nobody listens - well almost -- that when they dropped class 8 in 1996/1997, DOT's and municipal public works agencies stopped buying as many Class 1 thru 7 Fords as they used to. GM and Dodges began to appear in class 1 thru 5 and Freightliners and Internationals/Navistars took over class 6 & 7. How hard is it to place two rails down the sides with 5 or 6 crossmembers, raise the cab, increase tire size and beef up suspension components and call it macaroni as in class 8? Remember what Ford did with the H-series cabover? They took the C-series cab, elevated it, threw some fender skirts on it and now it was a monster! Not the same scenario, but you get the picture. It's not rocket science to go from class 7 to 8. And like Bob R. has said many times, they don't need to go into OTR sleepers, just vocational. I asked the owner of a tree company who removed a tree from my yard after a storm a couple years ago why he had all Fords from class 1 thru 7. He said brand, dealer and parts familiarity were the main drivers. And by the way, states are repaving roads that don't need to be repaved. They go by age (objective) instead of looking and driving on the road (subjective). Just because a road or highway has some squiggly liquid asphalt filler, doesn't mean it needs to be repaved! And that cap and seal method of paving where there's a lip between lanes that starts forming ruts after the last roller has passed over! Water collects against these lips. Who came up with that method, the paving companies? It's costly and wasteful!
They did t promise anything, they estimated. Then post Covid inflation and other factors significantly raised their material costs. Did they take advantage of market conditions to raise prices even further? Probably. Who wouldn’t in that situation? Doesn’t change the current market or Ford’s market share.