Ford Developing F100 Pickup

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: May 19th, 2008

Unless you don't live, breathe and sleep auto industry goss, you know high gas prices and a construction industry slowdown have killed sales of full-size pickups. Not a moment too soon, Ford is developing a new, more efficient pickup to fit between the F150 and the Ranger. Dubbed the P525, the lighter vehicle's based on the F150 frame, likely powered by one of Ford's new Ecoboost turbocharged V6s. "Sources" tell Automotive News [sub] that the pickup (which could carry the old F100 nameplate) is in Ford's product cycle plan, awaiting final approval. Will this new pickup will replace the Ranger, which could go out of production when Ford's Twin Cities plant shuts down in 2009? Hell if I know. But with revised CAFE regs looming, the new pickup is more likely to replace the F150 as Ford's volume truck (the current F150 returns between 13 and 20 mpg depending on trim). If the P525 graduates from development, expect "unique sheet metal and innovative storage space." We'll be a little more concerned with the weight and miles per gallon.

Edward Niedermeyer

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4 of 29 comments

Geotpf on May 20, 2008
itshoody : May 19th, 2008 at 4:51 pm (everything else aside you shouldn’t forget that the F-150 is STILL the best selling vehicle in the U.S.) This is true-but just barely. F-Series sales for April: 44,813 Camry sales for April: 40,016 I imagine the Camry will start beating the F-Series in monthly totals sometime this year, and for the full calandar year next year. Considering that as recently as 2005, the ratio of F-Series sales to Camry sales was greater than 2 to 1 (F-Series 2005 sales: 901,463; Camry 2005 sales: 431,703), that's a dramatic change. (Also, Ford doesn't break out F-250/F-350/Super Duty sales seperate from the F-150's, so it's possible that the Camry already outsells the F-150 alone.)

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86er on May 20, 2008
Geotpf (Also, Ford doesn’t break out F-250/F-350/Super Duty sales seperate from the F-150’s, so it’s possible that the Camry already outsells the F-150 alone.) Everything I've read suggests that the Super Duty (F250-F750) is about 40% of the F-Series total, so you are more than correct.

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Martin Albright on May 20, 2008
Just a thought, instead of making ‘em faster and keeping the mpg approximately the same (it may even be a little worse now) why not produce a more efficient work truck that can do the hauling and towing just not at break neck speeds. With modern engines and transmissions, they could easily produce a pick-up that gets 25 to 30 mpg, can haul 1 ton or more, and can tow 2 tons. Makes me think of my 1984 Mazda B2000. It had the aerodynamics of a brick and was so slow I called it "the Silver Slug" (because it was silver in color but would never be mistaken for a bullet!) Going up steep hills I sometimes had to shift down to 2nd gear so that little carbureted 2.0l 4 cyl could get me up the hill and the only time it ever saw 75mph was downhill with a tailwind. But you know what? That truck would go nearly 400 miles on 11 gallons of gas. Do the math - that's about 37 mpg. Of course, it wouldn't work today. No air bags, no power steering, no AC and the Japanese-made truck was a tad small for my 6'1" frame. But there's no reason that a manufacturer couldn't get 30+ mpg out of a small, extended cab truck if they kept the size smaller and the HP down around 125. It wouldn't be a speed demon, but so what?

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Gawdodirt on May 20, 2008

Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. Total F-series in March 08 54.465 Total GM ruck Sierra and Silv. 57,649 Total Camry: 34,914 So now which is the best selling line in the U.S.?

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