When Ford announces the reveal of the F-150 pickup truck, it’s like Santa at the mall.
No fan got tired of this event. They are always lining up to take pictures.
But the reveal of the 2024 F-150 Tuesday night at Hart Plaza in Detroit ahead of the Detroit Auto Show marked a development. While F-Series trucks have been best-sellers for decades, the 120-year-old automaker did something different this year. All because engineers went to Lowe’s, Home Depot and Ace Hardware and watched consumers loading their trucks, resulting in an entirely new tailgate design with a door that opened like a refrigerator.
The Pro Access Tailgate can be lowered, as usual, so workers can load large bags of dirt or lumber. But the 5-foot-1-inch mom who can’t reach the truck bed now has the option to open the door, even while the truck is attached to a trailer. without problems. If the driver hears something coming loose from the bed of the truck, he stops, reverses, and peeks through the swinging gate that opens. Shock-absorbing notch can be opened for use, if necessary.
faster. Easier. unique.
“It’s another example of the best never resting,” company spokesman Mike Levin said. “This backdoor ends backdoor wars.”
Price: $38,565 to $111,550
Both the Chevy Silverado and Ram have innovative truck bed designs. But no automaker has, yet, come up with enough on-board power (and outlets) to run power tools on the job site or electrify a wedding party’s sound system while accessing the truck bed through the tailgate door while everything is hooked up to a trailer. .
Pricing starts at $36,570 plus $1,995 destination and delivery fee. So an XL regular cab with the 101A’s 6.5-foot box and 2.7-liter engine totals $38,565. Pricing for the high-performance Raptor R starts at $111,550, including fees.
“The (tailgate) has three different angles to open to the side when towing a trailer,” Levine said. “The door also allows better access to the trunk to get further in. You can still open the tailgate straight down using the key fob.”
Its engineers said the heavy towing capacity is a “superpower” for Ford. The new truck can tow 13,500 pounds and has a payload capacity of 2,455.
This latest development follows the popular Pro Power feature, inspired by workers who took generators in the truck to power construction sites. Ford engineers decided they could provide power that would replace a noisy generator that took up a lot of space and required additional fuel.
Truck research at station 76
Ford calls all of this “truck anthropology,” or getting inside consumers’ heads and learning what their needs are.
Alanna Strager, 53, of Plymouth, has a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Michigan State University, and applies what she knows and learns to truck design as the F-150 program manager. Her father (and teacher) filled the role in front of her.
“Before he died, he was emphasizing that I belonged at Ford,” she said. “I was driving up to the 76 stop off I-75 and talking to all the truck owners of our competitors and asking them: What do you like, what don’t you like? What makes this the best car for you in terms of comfort, convenience and features. And as soon as I knew When I was doing this, my father asked me to stop immediately, saying: “You can’t go alone!”
At nearly 5-foot-1, Strager laughed and said the 2024 F-150 is the culmination of her life’s work.
Retro look on the grille
The front fascia is a throwback design with a wraparound grille that extends all the way around the headlights, so the headlights are designed within the grille.
“This is not something we’ve done in the last 20 or 30 years,” Steiger told the Detroit Free Press. “We surveyed our truck customers and asked them what their pain points were. One point that kept coming up was tailgate access. So now you can open the door, get right into the bed, fix your belt or load your mulch, concrete, 36-pound container Water bottle, Yeti coolers.
“When you stand up and put things through the door, you should be able to do it without hitting your elbows. Now, you won’t. We’ve watched people.” said Steger, who began her career working on heavy trucks 33 years ago.
Her daughter goes to horse shows on the weekends, and Steiger has seen the mothers all driving big trucks.
“Most women say they will be buried in their trucks because they love them,” Steiger said.
Sinister versus harmonious
Bob Brancheau, Ford’s chief color and materials designer, said he bought a Ford F-150 when he was doing woodworking to pay for his art school education.
“We have now updated the front end to make it more sophisticated” with modernity, solidity and style, he said.
Brancheau said the texture on the grilles hides stone marks, and the LED headlights work better in the day and at night. Some color combinations are dark and sinister, while others (like “smoked truffle”) are meant to create a tonal feel, he said.
Another new feature is a pop-up storage box that is neatly tucked under the rear seat and locks.
The latest F-150 is “smart and powerful,” said John Emmert, general manager of Ford Trucks of North America.
It touted 4 million miles of durability testing that included extreme heat at the Arizona Proving Ground and an all-aluminum military-grade body.
An estimated 10% of F-150s sold year-to-date are hybrids, powered by a traditional gasoline engine plus an electric motor that uses energy stored in batteries. The F-150 full-size hybrid pickup charges the battery through regenerative braking, not by plugging the battery into a charger.
Jim Farley sees high demand for the F-150 Hybrid
“We think we will sell approximately 20% hybrids (F-150 trucks) with Pro Power on board,” Ford CEO Jim Farley told the Free Press, during his visit to unveil the 2024 F-150 at Hart Plaza. “We have” Chance to be the most successful hybrid car sales in the U.S. No one ever thought Ford could come close to a (Toyota) Prius or (Toyota) RAV4 hybrid. I think it’s close.”
The hybrid F-150 could power a home, a job site or a Lions football party, Farley said.
“I think everyone envisioned hybrids as these super-fuel-efficient compact cars, which (actor) Larry David put to curb-your-enthusiasm with his Prius,” Farley said with a laugh. “And here we are, with the most popular truck in America potentially being the best-selling hybrid truck in the country. Just think how much things have changed.”
However, Steiger said the shape or size of the truck bed does not change. She said that even one millimeter can cause a noise. “Clients say, ‘Don’t take away my space. We don’t do that, and we won’t do that. Plus this is a five star rating. “I wouldn’t put my child through anything else.”
more: Ford is eager to unveil the F-150, and plans to attract buyers who are not yet sold to electric cars
more: Experience the Ford F-150 Lightning through the eyes of a young journalist
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.
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