Employees there are producing all versions of the half-ton pickup. However, they’re the only Ford workers manufacturing F-150s with eight-foot beds and heavy payload packages for commercial fleet buyers.
The new plant couldn’t have opened soon enough. According to Ford, “In January, F-Series had its strongest sales month since 2004 – Ford’s best sales year ever for F-150. Retail sales increased 7 percent in February.” Fortunately, the combined powers of the Kansas City Assembly and Dearborn Truck facilities will enable Ford to crank out 700,000 F-150s a year, which will be sold in 90 global markets. F-Series pickups sit on dealer lots for only 18 days; the Blue Oval says light-duty full-size trucks, on average, sit in inventory for 105 days before being driven home by customers.
Both F-150 factories received similar renovations. Specifically, the Kansas City location was outfitted with equipment such as machines that join F-150 panels with rivets and structural adhesives for increased durability, and robots that scan the trucks’ bodies with cameras to support quality control. The KC plant also has a test course that replicates rough road conditions, which I’m sure plenty of F-150 drivers will encounter in the real world…especially when the 2017 Raptor comes out.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
