[hotlap]

Big discounts now shoots down the earlier reports that sales were down because an inability to produce. Ford has gambled big with aluminum trucks and ecoboost engines

After taking tons of money and infrastructure to build, the 2015 Ford F-150 has had everybody’s attention all year. And F-Series sales have been looking... kinda weak. Now we’re seeing big discounts on the new truck. So what’s the deal?

There are the 2015 F-Series sales numbers so far compared to last year, straight from Ford’s beancounting division. As you can see, they’ve been down every month since January with particularly rough performances over the last two months.

Meanwhile the Chevrolet Silverado, “number two” since forever, is creeping up quick just a tiny percent behind on sales in June. GM’s combined full-size truck effort (Silverado plus the GMC Sierra) is blowing Ford out of the water...

.....The question is: why would Ford bother with incentive deals if they’re already short on trucks to sell?

I have a hypothesis here: that Ford is selling plenty of high-end King Ranch and Platinum trucks to early adopters who see the 2015 truck’s new technology as a good thing.

But plain ol’ truck buyers who don’t read blogs or spend two years salary on a pickup, and there are lots of ‘em out there, are starting to freak out about this “aluminum” nonsense that may or may not be harder to repair and these wild turbo motors that, well, they just ain’t V8s.

Meanwhile GM’s trucks are still made of steel. Remember steel? You welded it in shop class. (Is shop class still a thing, even?) Silverado also offers the best overall loadout for your money for trucks under forty grand.

http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/why-th...int-1718520125

[FenwickHockey65]

Part of it is indeed Ford's complete incompetency at having enough production capacity for launch products. Mustang, Fusion, F-series, Edge...all of these launches caught Ford with their pants down when it came to production.

[essess]

Ford made a bold move with the aluminum and people are rightfully weary of it. They also had some teething issues as well, lots of body fitment concerns when they first hit the dealerships. It will probably take time for people to gain trust in the new body, and also for repair work prices to drop which they will when aluminum body repair starts becoming a more regular occurance. And gm keeps trashing the aluminum but rumors have been spreading for months that they have been looking into making the switch too

[Number 3]

In time, pickups will be hammered with CAFE just like every other vehicle.

3 things make up Fuel Economy. On the highway, 50% is aero. Tough to make a Full Size truck smaller and more aerodynamic. Then comes mass (aluminium) and engine efficiency (small turbo engines).

Ford is ahead of where everyone else will ultimately have to go. May be a bump now, but GM and Fiat (as well as Toyota and Nissan) will have to get there too.

[khell86]

I think these discounts probably have more to do with price and not the aluminum scare nonsense. I priced out a XLT extended cab with the sport package and tow package and it was over 40,000 MSRP. That's insane. I see tons of these new trucks around here, but most of them are Lariat or higher trim levels. I think ford realizes that they might be over priced right now. I believe they're only offering that much off on certain trim levels. Not sure which ones though.

[wakespeak]

Yeah I saw the $10K discounts. According to the WSJ overall pickup sales are up 9.6% through June.

It could be the trucks on the lot are just optioned too high. Still, is it the aluminum or the turbo motors or both? Real world MPG with turbos not better than a simpler V-8 and GM is competitive with the stats anyway. GM also has 2 V-8 options. Add to that the uncertainty about turbos needing to be replaced, and aluminum repair.

[essess]

Well the 3.5 turbo has been in them since 2011 and they sold a buttload of them. They had issues in the beginning but they have been good since. I got to drive one and its a monster. It doesnt feel that special from a standing start, but then you realize that your at 90mph and its still accellerating at the same rate and you wanna just keep going to see when the pull is gonna oet up. That being said though, who knows what it costs to keep one on the road for any extended length of time, im sure an n/a v8 would be cheaper in most situations.

[masterguns95 1LE]

Living Michigan and seeing so many vehicles with rust, I want an aluminum body truck. I don't want the first year of production vehicle, and have gotten to where I don't buy a new vehicle. I'm thinking maybe 2016 in 17 or 17 in 18. Or see if GM is getting into aluminum.

[SpeedIsLife]

Originally Posted by masterguns95 1LE

Living Michigan and seeing so many vehicles with rust, I want an aluminum body truck. I don't want the first year of production vehicle, and have gotten to where I don't buy a new vehicle. I'm thinking maybe 2016 in 17 or 17 in 18. Or see if GM is getting into aluminum.

Apparently GM is going aluminum for the 2018 MY

[hotlap]

Originally Posted by khell86

I think these discounts probably have more to do with price and not the aluminum scare nonsense. I priced out a XLT extended cab with the sport package and tow package and it was over 40,000 MSRP. That's insane. I see tons of these new trucks around here, but most of them are Lariat or higher trim levels. I think ford realizes that they might be over priced right now. I believe they're only offering that much off on certain trim levels. Not sure which ones though.

Has the price of a MY 15 gone up significantly over a 14? You'd expect a new model introduction to see a spike in sales with full MSRP pricing (Mustang). The drop in sales and the $10k discounts are an attention getter signaling trouble since its Fords top selling vehicle.

It is true that intense use of aluminum and small displacement turbo engines are the future but introducing them on a truck with an old school buyer demographic may prove to be a mistake. It's ahead of the actual need by 5+ years.

[SpeedIsLife]

In general the price of the full size truck segment has lost its sh**.

Oh you want a basic 4WD cloth interior V8 truck?

That's $42,000 please.

Slightly, very very slightly, exaggerated

[khell86]

Originally Posted by SpeedIsLife

In general the price of the full size truck segment has lost its sh**.

Oh you want a basic 4WD cloth interior V8 truck?

That's $42,000 please.

Slightly, very very slightly, exaggerated

Yup. That XLT with the sport package and what not was cloth interior, basic radio, tow package, and 2WD. A truck is no longer in my price range unless its several years used. Im hoping ford gets back into the midsize category too, but hell even those prices are outrageous.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by SpeedIsLife

In general the price of the full size truck segment has lost its sh**.

Oh you want a basic 4WD cloth interior V8 truck?

That's $42,000 please.

Slightly, very very slightly, exaggerated

You can get a Silverado LS 4WD 5.3L for $32k. Less with incentives.

If you start going crazy with options then of course you're going to get into the $40-50k range. You get what you pay for.

[enzia35]

Originally Posted by SpeedIsLife

In general the price of the full size truck segment has lost its sh**.

Oh you want a basic 4WD cloth interior V8 truck?

That's $42,000 please.

Slightly, very very slightly, exaggerated

Just priced it on Ford's site. It's 32k, same as the Silverado.
The crewcab is ~6k more.