Tag Archives: trucks

Ford ups the ante with new Raptor, Limited pickups

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Ford is introducing the 2013 SVT Raptor and the F-150 Limited, the latest versions of the world’s best-selling pickup.

2013 SVT Raptor: The latest from Dearborn’s Special Vehicle Team features an industry first: forged aluminum conventional wheels that owners can upgrade to beadlocks that mechanically clamp the tire’s bead to the wheel rim for extra security when operating in an off-road environment where low tire pressure is an advantage.

Raptor’s new wheels represent a true innovation because converting from conventional rim to beadlock only requires unbolting the standard outer decorative ring, dismounting the tire from its regular position and then remounting the tire in the lock-enabled position with Ford Racing’s available beadlock ring kit.

It’s the first OEM wheel with both conventional and beadlock-mounting abilities and Ford has filed for a patent on the system.

“Raptor’s exclusive beadlock wheels give the customer the best of both on- and off-road worlds,” said Adam Wirth, SVT chassis engineer. “Tire inflation can be dropped to a very low threshold for maximum traction under extreme conditions, yet holds tight – and stays tight – when returning to the road.”

Raptor buyers also can opt for high-intensity discharge (HID) headlamps that are brighter and whiter than standard lamps and a new earth-tone exterior finish called Terrain. A rear view camera is now available, as well.

The 2013 SVT Raptor is equipped with unique leather and cloth-trimmed seats featuring Raptor-specific bolsters to keep the driver and first-row passenger firmly in place, regardless of terrain conditions. There’s also Ford’s SYNC infotainment system with a new 4.2-inch multifunction LCD screen in the instrument cluster for the MyFord driver connect technology. Customers can upgrade to MyFord Touch with an eight-inch center stack touch screen with five-way controls mounted on the steering wheel.

Ford says year-to-date Raptor sales are up 20 percent compared to the first five months of 2011.

“Ford F-150 SVT Raptor’s popularity continues to grow based on its proven reputation,” said Ford SVT Chief Engineer Jamal Hameedi. “It’s the ultimate high-performance off-road pickup, so it’s critical that we continue to push the boundaries of off-road capability. New available beadlock wheels help to improve Raptor’s performance in soft sand and other challenging conditions, enabling our customers to go further.”

F-150 Limited: This is Ford’s new statement on pickup luxury for 2013. The Limited fulfills the desires of the customers and dealers interested in exclusivity and fine craftsmanship. The new premium model surpasses the Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum.

“The F-150 Limited signifies the highest levels of design refinement, luxury and technology that we’ve ever offered in a Built Ford Tough pickup truck,” said Ford Group Vice President for Product Development, Raj Nair. “The F-150 Limited reflects a growing trend – more and more customers today have high expectations for luxury and convenience, yet their needs call for a truly capable truck.”

Today, more than 30 percent of F-150 sales are from high-end trim levels, with MSRPs reaching almost $50,000.

The 2013 Ford F-150 Limited is offered only in the SuperCrew four-door cab configuration with a monochromatic exterior in Ruby Red Metallic Tinted Clearcoat, Tuxedo Black Metallic or White Platinum Metallic Tri-Coat. The monochromatic theme extends to body-color front and rear bumpers, front bumper valance, sideview mirror caps, wheel-lip molding, upper fascia and grille surround. Contrasting chrome highlights the bold three-bar grille, tie-down hooks lining the cargo box, the single tip of the tuned exhaust and the tow hooks on 4×4 variants. “LIMITED” dimensional lettering accents the box sides.

In addition, the Limited has exclusive 22-inch polished aluminum wheels and center caps and segment-first standard HID headlamps with F-150 insignias.

The interior features red and black full-grain leather-trimmed seats with cooling and heating and memory for the seating preferences for two different drivers. Head restraints are four-way-adjustable and second-row seats are heated, too.

There is aluminum trim on the center panel and console and ambient lighting in five colors to set the mood. A moonroof is standard as is a rear view camera. A power-sliding rear window features privacy tint and defrost functionality.

The Limited package includes MyFord Touch and SYNC and a Sony audio system.

The F-150 Limited has one engine choice: the 3.5-liter Ti-VCT EcoBoost that makes 365 horsepower at 5,000 rpm and 420 lb-ft of torque at 2,500 rpm. Ford says as much as 90 percent of the torque is available from 1,700 rpm to 5,000 rpm. The engine is mated to an electronic six-speed automatic transmission with tow/haul mode. Otehr standard features include a trailer tow package, trailer brake controller, Reverse Sensing System, power-deployable running boards and a 110-volt power inverter.

Deliveries of the new Limited are scheduled for this fall.

GMC celebrates its centennial with special editions

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A century ago, the first GMC truck was displayed at the New York Auto Show. To commemorate the event, GMC is introducing special editions of the 2012 GMC Yukon, Yukon XL and Sierra at the New York International Auto Show.

“The GMC brand always looks forward, but this day provides an opportunity to celebrate 100 years of the proud GMC name,” said Tony DiSalle, U.S. vice president of GMC Marketing. “Sierra and Yukon are two of our longest-running and most-respected nameplates, so it makes sense to use them to represent our heritage.”

Special door badging features the original GMC logo first seen on gasoline- and electric-powered trucks 100 years ago. The script “GMC” is surrounded by the the words “Heritage Edition.” ommemorative exterior badges on the doors of these special models feature the original GMC logo design that debuted on the 1912 range of models, which included gas- and electric-powered trucks designed for the most demanding among early drivers. The script is surrounded by the words “Heritage Edition.”

GMC will offer the Heritage Edition package on SLT trim level Sierra 1500 Crew Cabs, Yukon and Yukon XL models. Buyers will have a choice of three exterior colors: a special Heritage Blue ($195), White Diamond ($995) or Onyx Black (no additional cost). On the Yukon, there’s a choice of black or light tan interior. The package will also include other model-specific upgrades.

For Sierra, the Heritage Edition package adds $2,645 to the vehicle price. The Yukon and Yukon XL package adds $1,970 to the suggested retail price, or $1,820 for the Yukon XL ¾-ton model. The charges for premium paint colors listed above are in addition to the package prices.

Through its heritage brands, GMC has been building trucks since 1902. The GMC brand was formed in 1912 when the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company, which had been purchased by General Motors in 1909, was merged with two other GM acquisitions – Reliance and Randolph. GMC today is the second-largest of the four General Motors brands.

Details on all GMC models are available at www.gmc.com, on Twitter at @thisisgmc or on Facebook.

Sprinter sales nearly double in the U.S.

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Daimler Vans USA is happy with the Sprinter. Sales of the full-size commercial van exploded in 2011, coming in 88.1 percent ahead of 2010. Sales of Mercedes-Benz- and Freightliner-badged Sprinters increased a 93.7 percent in calendar year 2011. Between the two brands, a total of 16,577 Sprinters were sold compared to 8,559 in 2010 (Acarplace’s total figure varies from the Daimler Vans number because it adds the 253 Dodge Sprinters sold in 2010).

“Our strong, diverse network of 185 Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner commercial van dealers spread across the U.S. has enjoyed a banner year of Sprinter van sales. From large fleet operators to small construction businesses and mom-and-pop food trucks, American consumers are discovering the incredible benefits of Sprinter vans,” said Claus Tritt, General Manager of Commercial Vans for Mercedes-Benz USA.

The Sprinter finished the year with impressive growth, especially compared to the Ford E-Series, which reported sales down 4.1 percent and the Chevrolet and GMC G-Series vans that came through with a more modest growth of 6.1 percent. The Sprinter grabbed an 8.3 percent share of the segment, its largest piece ever.

Overall full-size van sales were up 4.1 percent in 2011, recording their best year since 2008.

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End of the line for Nitro, Ranger

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Two American vehicles reached the end of the line today: the last Dodge Nitro and last Ford Ranger left the assembly lines at Chrysler’s Toledo North and Ford’s Twin Cities plants.

The Nitro, cloned from the Jeep Liberty, took its first bows as a concept at the 2005 Chicago Auto Show and as a production model at the same show a year later.

The Nitro, though it boasted many advantages, never caught on in the volumes expected. From its peak year of 2007, when 74,825 were sold, Nitro deliveries plunged quickly, through there was a rebound in 2010 that has continued into this year. In the first eleven months of 2011, Chrysler Group has sold 22,445 Nitros.

The Ranger on the other hand, was immensely popular in the early going. It dominated the small pickup segment and had sales in excess of 300,000 a year. In the nearly 30 years since its introduction, about seven million Rangers left dealer lots.

But times and circumstances changed. Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and GMC also made full-size pickups and as the American big truck craze waned, they began discounting and incentivizing the bigger trucks, wiping out the financial advantage of the smaller trucks. At one point, it cost less to buy a full-size truck than it did to buy a compact.

In addition, Ford failed to update the Ranger current. There were cosmetic changes, but few major updates.

The future is bright for the Toledo North Assembly Plant, new products and fresh investments are in store. But, with the end of Ranger production came the end of the line for the Twin Cities plant opened by Henry Ford himself in 1925. There’s no new product and the plant will be shuttered after 80 years.

Ford’s Transit-ion to a Eurovan may be game changer

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Ford’s recent announcement that it would replace most of its E-Series (Econoline/Club Wagon) offerings with the European Ford Transit may well mark the largest change in the American full-size van market in 40 years.

A number of people are probably wondering why Ford would replace a vehicle that has been the top seller in its segment since Coolidge was President but there are some very good reasons, both for Ford and for the commercial vehicle buyer.

From Ford’s accountants’ viewpoint, the 2013 Transit, the one destined for the U.S. market, is already well along the way. Photos of test mules are already appearing in the motoring press in Europe. It makes a lot of financial sense to add North America to its turf rather than developing one van for the U.S. and Canada and one van for the rest of the planet.

In addition, at a time when fuel economy is a hot issue, Ford says the Transit gets 25 percent better gas mileage than the Econoline and that sounds about right. A European-spec Transit delivers 19 miles per gallon by European standards. A U.S.-spec Econoline with a six-cylinder engine is rated at 14 mpg in combined city/highway driving. It may not sound like much of a difference, but when the subject is CAFE compliance, every extra mile can mean millions of developmental dollars saved.

From the buyer’s point of view, the Transit is a superior work van, scorched cat screams notwithstanding. It’s more modern, is lighter, costs less to operate, and can be configured in ways that would be either impossible or very costly on the Econoline.

The Transit isn’t the first Eurovan to hit the American market; Mercedes’ Sprinter replaced the Dodge B-Series van in the DaimlerChrysler days. After an incredibly botched introduction, when the gang in Stuttgart didn’t seem to be able to make up their minds who was going to sell the Sprinter and how it would be sold, the Sprinter has settled into a nice groove as the third player in the full-size van market.

What makes the Transit a game-changer is that Ford is the 800-pound gorilla when it comes to full-size vans. Since the first years of the 21st Century, there has been just one year that the Econoline/Club Wagon didn’t take 50% of the market and in that year, Ford only missed it by 0.3 percent. Ford is now betting the Transit’s advantages will overcome the conservatism of the commercial vehicle market and be as successful here as it is in Europe, where it’s the best-selling commercial van.

A hit for Ford could also help Fiat/Chrysler, which will be fielding a Ram-badged Ducato in the same time frame. Some have expressed concern that the Ducato’s styling might be too radical for American van buyers; the addition of a similarly styled van from Ford could help to overcome that obstacle. It should also be noted that so far in 2011, the Sprinter is claiming its largest-ever share of the market.

While the market analysts will be watching to see how the Ford fares, it’s likely that no one will be watching more carefully than General Motors.

GM does not have an in-house Eurovan. During its dalliance with Fiat, GM considered building the Iveco Daily in the U.S. but those plans never went anywhere. Instead, GM reskinned its ancient G-Series van for North America and contracted with Renault to build a version of its Master van for Opel, which sells it as the Movano.

Carlos Ghosn would be quite happy to sell more vans to GM, but there’s a problem: The Chicken Tax, a 25% tariff on commercial vehicles exported to the United States. That’s why Sprinter cargo vans are assembled in the former American-LaFrance plant in Ladson, South Carolina and it’s one of the major reasons Transits will be built in Ford’s Kansas City plant. Renault builds the Master/Movano in a single plant in Batilly, France; it doesn’t have any NAFTA production facilities. Partner Nissan has seven plants in the U.S. and Mexico, but none of them produce the Master. There is, of course, the Nissan NV, which has a great price point but from all reports, gets even worse mileage than the Econoline or Express.

GM is in a bind: whether it’s creating stateside production for the Master/Movano, sourcing the NV, or doing a top-to-bottom makeover of the G-Series, it’s going to cost a fair amount of money to stay in the game. And it can’t decide to do nothing; based on the numbers, it appears the Sprinter already wins more customers from GM than it does from Ford.

If they haven’t already done so, GM is going to have to make a decision: does it ante up for a fairly low-volume product or does it fold and let the G-Series join Hummer, Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Saturn?