Ford Wants You to Remember How Good For America the F-150 Is

Ford had a short Web meeting for the media earlier this week, and a big chunk of the time was spent on the newest version of the F-150 pickup truck, including confirmation that the company will be building an all-electric F-150 at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, as Matt wrote Thursday.

The other big announcement from the Blue Oval focused on how the F-150’s existence helps America. Drawing on a study from Boston Consulting Group, Ford says the F-150 is among the most valuable consumer goods sold in America.

For instance, the study claims each employee working on the F-150 supports up to 14 other American jobs. That is extrapolated to suggest that up to half a million jobs are attributed to just the F-150. Furthermore, the study claims that Ford itself supports 1 million jobs.

Speaking of a million, that number is about half the amount of full-size trucks built in the U.S. each year, and it’s also the number Ford built, which would be twice as many as any other OEM.

Back to the F-150: The study claims that it contributes to nearly $50 billion of the U.S. GDP, and that the F-150 model – not all of Ford, but just the F-150 itself – creates more revenue than McDonald’s, Nike, Coca-Cola, Visa, and Netflix.

Those claims show that Ford wants observers to know that it’s working not just to make a profit, but for America, damn it. So does this quote: “We are proud to once again build and innovate for the future here at the Rouge with the debut of our all-new F-150 and the construction of a modern new manufacturing center to build the first-ever all-electric F-150,” said Bill Ford, executive chairman, Ford Motor Company. “This year’s COVID-19 crisis made it clear why it is so important for companies like Ford to help keep our U.S. manufacturing base strong and help our country get back to work.”

There’s also the hype around its newest ad campaign, “Built for America”, and newest ad, “Built Together.” The campaign is meant to show off that Ford’s claims that it is the chief builder of cars on American soil, while also employing the most American hourly autoworkers.

The not-so-subtle message: Buy an F-150, and support American jobs, or don’t, and be unpatriotic. Maybe you should just move to Canada and buy some toques, eh, ya hoser?

OK, OK, I am being snarky. It’s tough times in America – and the world – right now, and of course Ford is going to tout the patriotic bona fides of its best-selling truck. It makes most American buyers and Ford partisans feel good, and it likely can’t hurt sales.

That’s a win for a company that continues to succeed at selling trucks.

[Image: Ford]