Greenwashing or no, at least Ford is moving to green up its lineup. The company recently highlighted some of the reasons to buy a new F-150, including great residual value, powerful towing capacity, lots of award from all sorts of people and, right at the end, the detail that the whole range gets an eight percent fuel mileage increase. Models with the 5.4-liter V-8 engine get 12 percent. The new SFE package helps the F-150 get fuel economy numbers of 15 mpg city and 21 mpg highway. It's an improvement, sure, but these trucks still use a lot of fuel. We're waiting for the upcoming introductions of a new 4.4L diesel V8 and a 3.5L EcoBoost V6 for even better numbers.

[Source: Ford]

Want to see the PML F-150 Hi-Pa cruising down the street? This all-electric truck that puts out a combined total of 600 hp and 2,000 lb-ft of torque from its four in-wheel motors made its debut at SEMA last week and, on top of the test drive video, we've got an on-the-floor introduction to the truck YouTube goodie after the jump. PML worked with DST Industries and Ford to take out the V8 powertrain and put in the motors and a 40 kWh lithium ion battery pack. While the first video just shows the truck on the road without any narration, the second is a full-on interview with
PML's Peter (no last name given) and shows off the new instrument cluster, the wheel motors and all the rest. Thanks for the tip, Paul!


[Source: YouTube]

With the recent drop in gas prices (did I just see $2.20 on the sign?) and the possibility of GM and Chrysler merging, Ford's sales chief believes that there is a "pent-up demand" for his company's new F-150. Putting some money where its mouth is, Ford is getting ready to rehire 1,000 workers at the F-150 plant in Dearborn, Michigan, according to the Wall Street Journal. The workers were let go over the summer when gas prices were in the $4/gallon range and demand for big trucks was just tanking. The workers are being called back to start building the big trucks in January. There's no guarantee that "pent-up demand" is out there, but having a new SFE version of the iconic truck will not hurt the F-150's chances of climbing back to where sales once were. Whether those chances rise above the snowball in hell threshold is something I'm not going to be much money on.

[Source: WSJ / Salon via Tom Tomorrow]

It looks like small cars aren't the only segment where Ford has no confidence in diesel engines. When Ford announced its redesigned F150 pickup trucks early this year the company indicated that a new light duty diesel engine would join the lineup in 2010. The company even showed off the new 4.4L V8 at a dealer meeting in April of this year. It now appears that the engine won't be coming in 2010 and in fact it may never happen. Ford officials have confirmed to Mike Levine at PickupTrucks.com that the program has been put on hold and may be canceled entirely. Separately, another supplier source has confirmed the same information to ABG. Ford was already pretty close to completing development of the new engine, but has stopped short of actually tooling up the factory to build them. Instead, Ford has decided to refocus its efforts on the EcoBoost (gasoline turbocharged direct injection) engines that will debut in the trucks in 2010. A 3.5L EcoBoost V6 makes similar power and low end torque to a diesel at a much lower cost. The EcoBoost engines provide about a 15-20 percent boost in fuel efficiency, compared to the 5.4L V8, which is less than the 20-30 percent that might be possible with the diesel, but the cost makes up the difference for most buyers. According to Mike, GM remains committed to its new 4.5L diesel but all future programs are up in the air.

[Source: PickupTrucks.com]

I wonder just how much money and time has been spent by national organizations promoting flexfuel vehicles - even though we all know that E85 fuel is pretty hard to find. Whatever the calculation, we need to add in the cost of a new F150 crew cab flexible-fuel vehicle (around $36,000) and a year's worth of E85 (around $6,000). This was a bonus prize awarded to the Dirk Devries family in Minnesota, which recently won ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The local Dave Syverson Ford is providing the vehicle and the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC), along with local POET biorefineries, is providing the biofuel. According to the local paper, the Devries family hasn't had it easy recently and a friend of the family submitted their story to the TV show for consideration. Along with a new home, a new truck might make things better for them. We'll see how they feel when they have to pay to fill it up next year.

[Source: Ethanol Promotion and Information Council]

Something tells me that the more fuel-efficient Ford models can't get to America soon enough for Ford dealers. The news out today is that FoMoCo's U.S. sales dropped like a Mike Gravel-thrown rock - 34 percent - in September. Truck sales were down 39.5 percent last month (22.3 percent so far in 2008) and car sales fell 19 percent in September (6.3 percent this year). While part of the problem is that Ford's gas-hungry line-up just isn't selling when gas prices are still quite high, the overall economic situation in the U.S. means that a lot of customers can't get credit. According to AFP, Ford sales analyst George Pipas expects overall auto sales dropped 30 percent in September (GM's September sales were down 16 percent). Still, Ford is holding out hope that the new F-150 - due in November - will spark sales. At least they've got a high-mileage version coming.

UPDATE: Autoblog crunches the numbers and it turns out that Hummer is last month's biggest loser.

[Source: AFP]

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Ford F-150

A four cylinder engine in the F-150? What is the world coming to? Um, the realization that the price of gas isn't likely to go back down, that's what. Still, it was one thing when muscle car enthusiasts were told they may get a four cylinder Camaro, but it's a different story to expect hard-core truckers to welcome anything less than six cylinders. In truth, the 2.5 liter Eco-Boost engine Ford is considering for its entry-level F-Series truck should prove plenty powerful with 260 hp and 300 lb.-ft. of torque, especially in the short-bed single-cab versions of the pickup it will be offered in.

Next year, the 4.6 liter V8 will be the base-engine, which seems contrary to expectations in this day of fuel saving fever. In time, a 3.5 liter Eco-Boost six cylinder will take over for the aging modular 4.6 in base-truck duties, and its 350 hp and 390 lb.-ft. of torque will be more than powerful enough in the quarter-ton. The 16 mpg city and 22 mpg highway is also a welcome improvement over its V8 forebear. We should also mention that a new smaller diesel V8 engine is on the horizon. Truckers, welcome to the new world order. Come on in, the water's fine.

[Source: Pickuptrucks.com via Autoblog]

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Ford F-150

Another large, powerful V8 engine program has bitten the dust. After GM made the decision to axe its high-tech DOHC V8, it became obvious that automakers are beginning to see the luster disappear from the classic V8 engine architecture. Ford, for its part, has announced plans to replace many of its large eight cylinder engines with new members of its EcoBoost engine family. The latest nail in the V8's coffin may also be coming from the Blue Oval, as it's now asked suppliers to stop working on a new 6.2 liter eight cylinder which was slated for its line of F-Series trucks.

Considering that Ford has already invested a large sum of money into the engine, we would be surprised to see it go away entirely. For this reason, Ford could reduce the displacement of the engine and could even regain lost power by equipping it with the EcoBoost technology. Whatever the case, it's clear that the future will bring smaller engines with fewer cylinders, even in pickup trucks.

[Sources: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

"Built Ford Tough is a mantra for truck and owner alike. F-Series leaves no room for compromise. It's reputation for toughness has been earned on the farms, work sites and roads across America. So, if you're going to drive the toughest truck, then you've got a responsibility to man-up and do your part. There's a code of conduct when you're behind the wheel of an F-Series. We're here to enforce it. We're here to protect and serve the brand."

So says Ford with it's "Built Ford Tough Rules" team. Not compromising apparently means no scooters. Rule number 2 excludes transporting scooters from acceptable Ford F-Series truck usage. We imagine that those who ride or rebuild scooters might need a truck to transport them. If that is the case, you'd better look at a brand other than Ford for your needs.

PS - We do realize that this is satire. We're aren't really offended : )

[Source: Ford via Autoblog]

Life is very short, and there's no time
For fussing and fighting, my friend
I have always thought that it's a crime
So I will ask you once again.
Try to see it my way
Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong
While you see it your way
There's a chance that we may fall apart before too long
We can work it out. We can work it out!

Or so an Illinois Judge thinks. The two feuding companies, Navistar and Ford, have been ordered to work out their differences outside of court. You may remember that Navistar filed a suit claiming that Ford was bound by law to use their engines in Ford trucks. Ford saw things differently, and has plans to use a new smaller diesel engine of their own design in the F150 trucks. Here's hoping that they are able to see things eye-to-eye soon, before, as the Beatles say: they both fall apart before too long!

Related:

• Ford and Navistar just can't seem to play nice... another lawsuit looms
• Ford, Navistar court battle update: Navistar asks for $2 billion from Ford
• International's diesel engines headed back to Ford plant
• Navistar cuts off Ford Super Duty truck diesel supply

[Source: Detroit News]