I like the Atlas design myself.
The front that is, still don't like the tail lights of the 150, I thought they might grow on me , but I am still waiting .

 

Best looking truck ever. I hope u r not a market reasearch participant!

 

Maybe wait a year or two and see what happens if all the kinks get worked out. "All" meaning most for me

 

As for the styling, don't get too worked up about the concept trucks. Wait until the production model is out, at least then you know what you'll be getting.
Myself, it always takes me a year to get used to the look of any new model.

 

The Atlas concept almost looks identical to the Super duty trucks. Hope they keep the body style at least and offer a diesel.

 

From what I understand for will not be offering a diesel in the light duty truck series

 

They'll be left behind for sure and may lose their top spot for selling the most trucks. People have been telling Ford for years to bring back a diesel for the Ranger and F150. Really hope they reconsider.

 

I vote diesel F150 as well... Maybe when the Fiats (Ram) and Nissans fly off dealer lots, Ford will reconsider. A Ford diesel car for the US would be nice too. Gotta give Chevy credit for bringing the Cruze over - and it spanks the VW in real life highway mileage, which says a lot because VWs always beat the rating and were in the high 40s to 50mpg as well. Cruze owners are reporting 58mpg on the highway. So, come on Ford show us you are and will always be #1.

If anything it should help them meet CAFE requirements.

Still waiting for a US Diesel Plug-In Hybrid too. But I guess it will just have to be something I can't get and enjoy here in the US.

 

Put me down as another for the diesel. With the rumored weight reduction the new F150 should weigh about what the new Transit van does. It would be nice if the same diesel was offered in both vehicles.

 

Even though I don't personally want a diesel, I vote for Ford to offer one in the F-150, Fusion, Taurus, Expy and anything they build if the market will support it.

Ford cites R&D costs for the diesel F-150 but I have to waive the BS flag on that one. The diesel is already slated for the transit van and the core engine has already proven itself in Europe. It just has to meet US EPA which it clearly does.

The current diesel that Ford will use IS NOT a power house by any stretch. It's built for economy and long term durability. It's primary focus is for delivery type vehicles and extensive idling. It's not a stump puller, an RV puller, it's really nothing more than a grocery getter.

Having said this, is it worth an extra 3K over the already high price of the F-150? Will the extra 3-4 MPG's ever pay back the initial cost to the consumer? Will Ford sell enough to make a profit?

If I were a betting man, I'd say that they've already bolted one into an F-150 and did all the testing. It would be foolish for the company to not explore this and have it ready just in case the market demands.

 

I think an diesel F150 (with manual trans - I always want that) would be great. My thought is that Fords reluctance relates to the politics of the entire product line. I don't know the numbers but I presume Duratorq volume is high enough through worldwide sales. I think having a Duratorq (or other small diesel) in F150 would only serve to reduce ecoboost and powerstroke volume. My feeling is that with F150 so close to SD in pricve I think Ford would rather you just bought a powerstroke - which I think many people do. Plus you have proliferation cost - adding another engine to F150 adds costs for EPA testing, documentation, manuals, service training, more part numbers to service, and so on and so forth.

That said I'm excited to test drive a Cummins Nissan Titan. That 5.0 ISV is a neat little engine. At my prior employ in about 2008 folks were working with Dodge to test our product in Cummins powered RAM 1500s that were supposed to launch in early 2010 as MY2010.5. I think the Nissan will be a nice unit but again cost near as much as a powerstroke SD.

 

Soon enough the market will dictate whether we get a lot of 1500 and lighter duty trucks. If they bomb then we will never see one. If they take off, then Ford will join in the fray.

The problem of a loaded F150 costing as much as 250/350 SD is there. I looked at an F150 that was loaded like my SD and realized that going to a SD wasn't that big of a jump in price. It does look like the "light duty" Nissan Diesel will probably be in the mid to high 40s - since a loaded gas one is in the low 40s already. I built a Crew Cab 4x4 with both packages so I would have close to what I have in my SD, and the price was ABOUT $43K. How much is that diesel going to add to it? If I am close to $50k and with Nissans very low rebate and discounts off MSRP, I'd be better to keep a SD even if I didn't need the extra pulling power. Just my .02...

And at one point, i want to be able to have the option to downside in truck capability and size. Parking a long bed, F350 is fun in the parking garages and those are the ones you can actually get into.

 

I still don't get how a Diesel makes sense with Ecoboost providing the same power and torque curve.

You have the added expense of the Diesel option. (Ram has it as a $4k option over the cost of the Hemi.)
You have extra diesel maintenance expenses (DEF, expensive oil changes, fuel filters, etc).
You have Diesel @ $3.99/gal vs regular at $3.36/gal (local gas station here in PA)

At an estimated 28 highway for the Ram Ecodiesel vs, say 21 for the Ecoboost how long till you break even with all the additional costs.

However I'm sure Ford and GM have some Diesels crammed in a 150/1500 somewhere in case this goes somewhere. But I think it will be like the CRD's and Diesel Jeeps - very expensive and very limited in scope.

 

Diesel or not, I like the look of the concept truck. Modern & Tough. I think it would be the best looking new truck on the market. Of course the production truck may be very different. Guess we will see in another few months.

 

I am driving a newer turbo diesel Ranger out here at my deployed location. They do exist but just not stateside unfortunately. For a little truck its got some go but I still miss my F150 back home LOL.