Should Ford raise the bar?
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Should Ford raise the bar?
Is this truck overpriced relative to base equipment?
Ford, which lost $6.4 billion in 2001 and 2002 combined, can ill afford any slip in sales or new pricing pressures. ''You can try to downplay it, but you know how important this launch is,'' said Rich Stoddart, the marketing communications manager for the Ford division. ''Let's face it.''
Ford will spend more than $100 million in four to six months, its most expensive marketing campaign by far, said Steve Lyons, president of the Ford division. ''The biggest one before that was the launch of the Explorer two years ago and this is close to double that,'' he said.
''It's a 'make it or break it' vehicle,'' Maryann Keller, an auto analyst, said of the F-150. ''You can't overestimate the importance to Ford. It's the largest-selling vehicle in the country and the most profitable model they have.'‘
In an interview last month, John Casesa, a Merrill Lynch analyst, said the F-Series accounted for $2.4 billion of net income last year; the company over all reported a $980 million net loss.
The market for full-sized pickup trucks--which is based on the full-size F-150 chassis--has doubled in the last decade to 2.2 million vehicles per year.
Model Units Sold
1. Ford F-series 115,847
2. Chevrolet Silverado 80,260
3. Dodge Ram 58,543
4. Ford Ranger 36,352
5. GMC Sierra 22,581
6. Toyota Tacoma 20,561
7. Chevrolet S-10 19,781
8. Dodge Dakota 16,360
9. Toyota Tundra 12,448
10. Chevrolet Avalanche 11,837
Ford, which lost $6.4 billion in 2001 and 2002 combined, can ill afford any slip in sales or new pricing pressures. ''You can try to downplay it, but you know how important this launch is,'' said Rich Stoddart, the marketing communications manager for the Ford division. ''Let's face it.''
Ford will spend more than $100 million in four to six months, its most expensive marketing campaign by far, said Steve Lyons, president of the Ford division. ''The biggest one before that was the launch of the Explorer two years ago and this is close to double that,'' he said.
''It's a 'make it or break it' vehicle,'' Maryann Keller, an auto analyst, said of the F-150. ''You can't overestimate the importance to Ford. It's the largest-selling vehicle in the country and the most profitable model they have.'‘
In an interview last month, John Casesa, a Merrill Lynch analyst, said the F-Series accounted for $2.4 billion of net income last year; the company over all reported a $980 million net loss.
The market for full-sized pickup trucks--which is based on the full-size F-150 chassis--has doubled in the last decade to 2.2 million vehicles per year.
Model Units Sold
1. Ford F-series 115,847
2. Chevrolet Silverado 80,260
3. Dodge Ram 58,543
4. Ford Ranger 36,352
5. GMC Sierra 22,581
6. Toyota Tacoma 20,561
7. Chevrolet S-10 19,781
8. Dodge Dakota 16,360
9. Toyota Tundra 12,448
10. Chevrolet Avalanche 11,837
