Despite production delays, the 2009 Ford F-150 is hitting the road with reviewers behind the wheel. It enters the market at a tough time. The F-150 was best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for seventeen years until 2008. Successive versions grew more powerful, luxurious and expensive. Now, the truck must fight for a dwindling number of buyers -- and with Americans focused on inexpensive, fuel-efficient cars, many analysts believe that pickups will sell mostly to businesses and users who need them for functional reasons. So how well will the 2009 fill that role?
Jalopnik reports, "Ford has come into this new product cycle with both barrels blazing, offering up the most capability it's ever packaged into a light-duty pickup." The new truck "boasts class-leading capabilities like a maximum 11,300 lb towing capacity and a 3,030 lb maximum payload capacity." In one trim level, it even offers "best-in-class fuel economy (tied with the Chevy Silverado XFE) of 15 MPG in the city and 21 MPG on the highway when you opt for the fuel-sipping SFE model."
But trim levels are part of the problem. There are seven. Plus three powertrains, four beds, three cabs, 13 types of wheels (Jalopnik points out, "that's more than the number of models of vehicles Honda sells stateside") and two- or four-wheel drive options.
Edmunds Inside Line reports, "Ford gets to say that its entire lineup of 2009 F-150s - from the lowliest work truck with a standard cab to the Lincoln-style Platinum-edition luxury truck - is powered by a V8." It's nearly impossible to explain the performance credentials of all possible configurations of the truck, but Edmunds says it fills its hard work role well. "The tall walls of the cargo bed (a familiar feature of the existing truck), along with the slab sides and hard corners of the body make the new F-150 look utterly massive. Even so, the use of high-strength steel in the boxed frame rails helps the new F-150 reduce its weight by about 100 pounds compared to the outgoing model." The truck even comes "with not only electronic stability control but also a trailer sway control system, which uses the brakes to help bring a wagging trailer under control. An integrated trailer-brake controller is also offered."
Automobile Magazine adds, "Inside the F-150, things are very quiet. Extra sound insulation materials make the F-150's cabin almost as quiet as a luxury car's." High-tech touches like Ford's SYNC voice-activated infotainment system and a navigation system that uses Sirius Travel Link "to locate the cheapest fuel, give real-time traffic reports, and provide weather reports" up the luxury ante. And since luxurious trucks seem like the realm of business owners, "Ford Work Solutions are designed to improve the capability of the 2009 F-150 as a mobile office for contractors and offer a range of features from internet access to fleet management tools which help managers track maintenance and locate vehicles in the field." The system even "allows owners to tag tools with RFID chips and ensure all the tools brought to a job are loaded back in the truck before heading home."
But with few of us buying trucks, it's possible that all the focus on providing so many customizable versions of the 2009 F-150 is what will sink the truck, and Ford with it. Popular Mechanics notes, "Industry trade journal Automotive News recently reported that "pickup truck sales won't bottom out until 2010, at a meager 1.7 million units." That's about 1 million less pickups than were sold in 2007, and it translates into big money lost for Detroit's Big Three. And the old trucks stuck on dealer lots translated into Ford delaying by two months its new version of the most popular truck in America."
Motor Trend says what's on everyone else's mind. "The F-150 is Ford's best-selling vehicle...and if it doesn't remain a hit in the marketplace, there may be little hope for Ford's survival." They add, "No one will accuse Ford of bringing a knife to a gun fight. Plenty of buyers will appreciate this, Ford's Baskin-Robbins approach to truck building, with more than 31 flavors from which to choose. But can Ford keep making so many flavors when the economy and truck lovers have gone on a crash diet?"
The few pickup trucks that are selling right now are selling with heavy incentives. Research the best car deals for October with U.S. News' car rankings and reviews.
