Ford stockpiles 2017 F-150 trucks to test new transmission

[kscarbel2]

Reuters  /  December 6, 2016

Ford is stockpiling 2017 model F-150 trucks, delaying delivery to dealers while it runs final tests on a new 10-speed transmission.

The trucks should be delivered by the end of the year, Joe Hinrichs, head of Ford's automotive operations in the Americas said in an interview on Monday.

"We are launching the new Raptor and F-150 with the new 10-speed transmission," Hinrichs said. “We continued building but we’re holding (trucks) longer so we could do more testing and make sure everything is right before we release them,” Hinrichs said.

Extra testing is surely prudent in an industry plagued by frequent and costly automotive safety recalls. But Ford's shipping delays come as rival General Motors is aggressively trying to cut into Ford's lead in U.S. pickup sales.

Taking aim at the "Built Ford Tough" ad campaign, as part of a bid dominate the lucrative light truck and sport utility vehicle market, GM rolled out a series of hard-hitting TV commercials over the summer. Punching holes, literally, in the lightweight aluminum beds featured in Ford's new line of pickups, the ads tout the alleged advantages of the roll-formed, high-strength steel beds in GM's trucks.

The Ford F-series line of pickups has been the best-selling model line in the United States for 34 years, and Hinrichs predicted 2016 will make it 35 years in a row.

Ford refused to say how many F-150 pickups it is holding. But several hundred vehicles were stored earlier this week behind a chain link fence on an empty factory parking lot in Detroit. More were parked on Tuesday near the Detroit-Wayne County airport. Many were well-equipped Limited or Platinum models with sticker prices above $50,000.

Ford designed the 10-speed transmission jointly with GM. The 2017 model F-150s equipped with a 3.5 liter six-cylinder engine and the 10-speed automatic gearbox get a one mile per gallon improvement in fuel economy over comparable 2016 models with six-speed transmissions.

Ford remains the leader in large, light duty pickups with 733,287 F-series trucks sold on the U.S. market through the end of November.

However, Ford in October said it would cut a week of production at a Kansas City assembly plant that builds F-150s.

GM has sold 718,994 of its large pickups during the same 11 months. GM said in November it had increased inventory on U.S. dealer lots by 111,000 vehicles at the end of the third quarter.

GM, Ford and other major automakers in the United States are promoting holiday-themed discounts and financing deals to clear out inventory by the end of the year.

December is a critical month for truck sales, said Pete DeLongchamps, vice president of manufacturer relations with Group 1 Automotive, a Houston auto retail chain. "I expect them to be aggressive."

[kscarbel2]

Ford releases for sale half of 10-speed F-150 stockpiled trucks

Reuters  /  December 7, 2016

Ford by Wednesday had released for sale more than half of the 15,000 F-150 pickup trucks with 10-speed transmissions that were held to ensure quality, a company spokeswoman said.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that shipment of some of the 2017 models of the F-150 were being delayed to keep from having quality issues during the first application of a 10-speed transmission.

In an interview with Reuters earlier this week, Joe Hinrichs, head of Ford in the Americas, said holding the trucks was the prudent thing to do.

"In the normal course of business, when we have a new product launch – this is a new product launch for that transmission – we wanted to be extra sure, to do extra testing,” Hinrichs said.

Ford designed the 10-speed transmission jointly with Detroit rival General Motors.

The 2017 model F-150s equipped with a 3.5-liter, six-cylinder engine and the 10-speed automatic gearbox get a one-mile-per-gallon improvement in fuel economy over comparable 2016 models with six-speed transmissions, according to federal fuel economy data.

The delayed shipments of 2017 model year F-150 trucks occurred as rival General Motors is aggressively trying to cut into Ford's lead in U.S. pickup sales.

This year will be the 40th straight year that the F-Series pickup trucks from Ford are the best-selling truck in the United States and the 35th consecutive year of it being the top-selling model of any kind.

Hinrichs said the delayed shipments will not affect the company's fourth-quarter profit picture because they will all be shipped by year's end.

[Underdog]

Extra testing for a new product is prudent, but selling off the 2016's before you release the 2017's is prudent as well. Follow the market and see that most automakers are overstocked with inventory. IMHO the real reason for holding back the release date. I'm sure the new 10-speed transmission has been thoroughly tested for several years.

[james j neiweem]

Underdog what you say makes sense. Sounds like a fibbin Ferd spokesperson to me. Squeeze all the profits out of the 2016's that you can.

[BillyT]

Does anyone question the ability of a small toolbox to drop 3feet and punch holes in a truck bed? Maybe if it's filled with mercury! And the corners are sharpened to a razors edge! Also what is unique about the roll formed, high strength steel they use in the GM beds compared to the steel they've been using for years?

[Dirtymilkman]

We slid a metal snoot off of a combine head into a new f150 and it actually did "tear" the bed floor. The dealer said we should've bought a bed treatment.