Ford's Not Ignoring Trucks
In its "Year of the Car," Ford is not going to be neglecting its truck business, warned Lyons who showed off the 2005 King Ranch F-150 SuperCrew during the Detroit show.
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| The King Ranch was introduced Sunday January 4, 2004 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Mich. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
The F-150, which was given an all new platform in 2003 for the 2004 model year, earned a dozen awards including the Motor Trend Truck of the Year Award, the 2004 NAIAS Truck of the Year, the Truck of Texas, Lyons noted. And, the new F-150 has had the best launch in Ford's history, showing double digit sales increases from the previous year, with some 85,000 pickups sold in December alone and an estimated 912,000 for the year. The sales figures would include the so-called "heritage" F-150s, the previous model, still being churned out in Ford's soon to be shuttered truck plant in Ontario, which will be replaced by the new Dearborn (Mich.) Truck Plant.
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| The saddle leather lined King Ranch F-150 will be the most luxurious interior that Ford will offer on its full-size pickup truck. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
The King Ranch F-150 will be the "king of the hill" with the most upscale interior for a pickup ever with saddle leather seats, Lyons noted.
The King Ranch in southern Texas is the largest working ranch in the world. Ford had partnered with the ranch to market a King Ranch F-150 for the previous model too.
"We are not going to let up on any other parts of our business (while introducing new cars)," Lyons said. "We are going to press our leadership in SUVs. This year we are going to sell our 5 millionth Explorer. No one else has sold 5 million of any SUV. This summer, we'll launch the Escape hybrid too."