Daily Slideshow: Is the Future of the F-Series Already in Motion?
Ford's a company many families have come to trust for generations. Their designs have been consistent and distinctive for decades, but progress has been a key ingredient in their legacy.
Some things change while others stay the same
If there's one automaker that stands above the rest as the true "establishmentarian," it would be Ford. The century-plus they've been business proves they know a thing or two when it comes to long-term success. Even as an industry frontrunner, Ford haven't been known as trailblazers. They've even received flak lately for seemingly falling behind in development compared to pioneers like Tesla Motors, or even their immortal rivals at GM.
The F-150 could not have been the world's best-selling truck 41 years in a row and counting if they had been aggressively innovative with their designs. At the end of the day, you know what you're going to get with an F-Series truck, due in part to the fact that Ford have kept the original feel of the product intact all these years.
However, things don't stay the same forever, and with a rapidly changing industry in front of them, Ford are setting some major plans in motion to get the future rolling in their direction.
Smarter, not bigger
Even when gas prices are relatively low, they're still uncertain. The importance of fuel economy and efficiency has skyrocketed accordingly, leading companies like Ford to reconsider their products for current conditions. Ford's design philosophy for their trucks in coming years will emphasize packing efficiency and features without adding to size and raw power as they have in the past.
Automotive enthusiasts tended to be wistful towards vintage muscle cars, before technology curtailed the glorious excesses of sports cars in the name of efficiency. Trucks have been going through the same transition towards smarter pastures, too. It's Ford's expressed intent to go "smart, not big" that proves the future is already here for the F-Series.
You can blame Tesla for the new standard
Whatever future the F-Series has been trudging towards, Elon Musk's Tesla Motors is already there. Not only that, they've been there long enough to shape what it will look like for everyone else.
The strategy behind Ford's trucks division has been one built on reliable returns and maintaining success. Unlike Tesla or even their GM rivals (who entered the EV truck race last year with the Chevrolet Bolt), Ford's perennial hold on their spot as top dog doesn't give them much reason to blaze new trails. The fact that Ford have even announced a gasoline electric F-150 shows that they've finally seen these once-impractical technologies threaten cutting into their bottom line.
True EV Ford trucks?
The popular position among truck owners is to look at EV tech with cynicism. Certain concepts, like the Protean F-150s, have showed real potential in going down that alley. At the same time however, electric cars didn't get their reputation for weakness from nowhere, and we're you talking about trucks, a wimpy powertrain is out of the question.
However, it looks as if Ford will attempt to win people over by marketing the EV option as a fantastic use as a mobile generator, making it that much more integral for job sites. Once a critical threshold of customers have been swayed over to an EV setup, the stigma will begin to dissipate. Someday, the technology might finally feel like old news.
Ford's future will be increasingly truck-dependent
Nevermind the trucks themselves; Ford's entire future as company will hinge on the development of their trucks. You may think of Ford as a truck company already, and that's only going to become more of the case as time goes on.
Ford aren't about to do away with sedans completely. Nonetheless, it appears as though the writing's on the wall. The company's greatest success has always banked on their trucks division, and true to Ford's philosophy. they're going to double down on the safer bet increasingly in the future. Ford's latest reports claim that trucks and SUVs alone will account for 86% of their volume, up from 70% the previous year.
The future still belongs to Ford if they want it
Whatever comes, Ford trucks are still probably going to be the best-selling vehicles for a long time to come.
While other companies have seen fit to bare their fangs recently, it will take more to oust Ford from their top spot. Put simply, the future is Ford's to lose. The technological shift at hand has got the industry going sideways, but it's still hard to imagine another truck becoming more successful than the F-150.
A large part of the reason why we haven't seen Ford take up these future technologies as fast remains due to the fact they didn't need to in the first place. Considering their approach to business, it would only make sense if they knew these fresh developments could be profitable. Fortunately for Ford, their competitors did their job in proving that for them. Now that Ford's started tackling this arena in earnestness, only time will tell how far they'll go with it.
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