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The launch of the next Ford F-150 has reportedly been delayed, which could impact the arrival of the next-generation Ranger and Everest SUV – while Australian arrivals of the update for the current F-150 have also slid back.
Ford has reportedly told suppliers in the United States it will delay the next-generation F-150 – which was to share its new underpinnings with an all-new Ford Ranger expected at the end of the decade – beyond its previously planned 2027 launch timing.
The news means the next-generation Ford Ranger – which will move beyond its existing T6 platform after several heavy revamps since its 2011 introduction – could also run late, given the two vehicles were supposed to share the same modular architecture.
According to Automotive News, Ford has told suppliers the current life of the existing F-150 will be extended to 2028, when it will belatedly launch the 15th generation of the hot-selling pick-up.
It means the current generation F-150 will be on sale for seven years, instead of the typical five-to-six years of previous generations.
Ford would not confirm the delay when approached by Automotive News.
Australian order books opened for the re-introduced F-150 in February 2023 – with local conversions carried out in Melbourne by Thailand's RMA Automotive – yet the latest update applied in the US the same year is yet to arrive.
The US car giant had previously mooted a single modular platform for its global light-commercial line-up, which would have seen the F-150 and Ranger sit on the same underpinnings.
Drive has previously reported the current Ranger is due to exit production – at least for markets outside North America – in 2029 or 2030, with reports suggesting the US would follow in 2031.
How the F-150 delay impacts the Ranger remains to be seen, given the time gap previously expected between the vehicles.
It was part of a plan – initially announced in 2018 – where the US car giant looked to offer only five platforms across its entire line-up, with a single platform dedicated to 'trucks'.
With only one body-on-frame pick-up platform globally, it meant the next generation of both the Ranger and F-150 would use the same architecture – or at least elements of it – enabling Ford to bring both vehicles to market faster at lower cost.
The Ranger also shares its underpinnings with the Ford Everest SUV sold in markets such as Australia and New Zealand, but not the US.
Since the 2018 plans were published, Ford has announced a new low-cost electric platform – in a bid to rival Tesla in bringing a cut-price electric car to market – suggesting it has deviated from its five-platform approach.
In the meantime – until the next Ranger launches closer to the end of the decade – Ford intends to launch a Super Duty version of its mid-size ute offering increased payload and towing capacity.
The need for more than five platforms may stem from significant losses on electric vehicles, including the F-150 Lightning electric pick-up – offered only through importers in Australia, not Ford – which saw production repeatedly reduced in the wake of slower-than-anticipated sales.
Ford’s 'Model e' electric vehicle division lost $US5.1 billion ($AU8.1 billion) in 2024, with the brand moving to EREVs (extended-range electric vehicles) to capitalise on the increasing popularity of hybrids in the US.
Further affecting product plans across the automotive industry is the outcome of global trade – including US import tariffs – and differing plans to phase out internal combustion engines across the US and the world.
Yet the F-150 is critical to the car maker as a perennial money maker – the F-Series was the best-selling vehicle range in the US for the 48th consecutive year in 2024 – with 765,649 sold, including 33,510 F-150 Lightning electric trucks.
Counting single models only, the Toyota RAV4 overtook the Ford F-150 for the first time.
The Ranger, re-introduced to the US in 2019, was reportedly the 63rd-best-selling car in the US last year, making it the seventh-most popular Ford model in North America, and far less critical to its bottom line.
Yet Ranger and Everest are critical to Ford Australia’s success, the pair making up almost 90 per cent of the brand's 2024 sales, the Ranger alone making up almost two-thirds of the brand's entire volume.
