Ford's Marketing Strategy for Plug-in F-150 Fixates on More Power

The pervasive opinion among truck enthusiasts and industry experts is that nobody cares about plug-in hybrid pickups. Fuel economy isn’t a major priority among those in the market for something that can haul bales of hay or a stable of horses.

This poses a problem for pickup manufacturers striving for lower emissions and fuel consumption. Ford, which previously lightened the F-150 and outfitted it with a bevy of more economical engines, knows this problem better than most.

However, Ford is pressing onwards. It even intends to bring a hybrid plug-in variant of its ultra-popular pickup to the market in the coming years. But how is it going to market the technology to consumers who are unlikely to care? The company has strategy for that and it’s less reliant on fuel savings than you might expect.

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  • SilverHawk During the time of the annual model year changes, Motor Trend would do a Preview edition that included actual pencil drawings of new grills and taillights, along with whatever spy photos they had. Those pencil drawings were supplied by the manufacturers. At the time, I had friends at AMC and Ford who made these drawings available to MT.
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