Ford is getting ready to push the 2015 F-150 into the public’s arms. Initial models have started to trickle into dealerships, but early 2015 will see a larger-scale launch. To support this, one of the company’s biggest manufacturing plants has begun ramping up. From the Kansas City Star:
It’s been nearly a year since the 2015 F-150 made a splash with its aluminum body at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Now the time has come to get the new models into dealer showrooms. A trickle of them have started to be delivered from a Michigan plant which is ramping up, and early next year the company’s Claycomo plant will begin production.
Area Ford dealers have been fielding customer inquiries about the newest version of the F-150, which for decades has been the most popular vehicle in the U.S.
“We’re anxious and excited to get one,” said Mark Smith, president of Dick Smith Ford in Raytown, who hopes to have one or two of the 2015 F-150s by Christmas.
The launch of a revamped popular model is typically a big deal, and this time even more so. The pickup truck will have an aluminum body which is getting lots of attention since it’s a first for a mainstream vehicle.
Ford says it is ready. The truck has gone through 10 million miles of durability tests, and the military-grade aluminum is ding resistant, in keeping with the truck’s reputation for toughness. The company got some bragging rights last week when the 2015 F-150 with a 2.7 liter V-6 Ecoboost engine got a fuel economy rating that’s the best of any full-sized gasoline-powered pickup.
With the F-150 about to hit large-scale production, the next chapter in the story will be how the aluminum trickle-down effect impacts other models and manufacturers. Stay tuned, things will get really interesting once auto manufacturers see how the public reacts to the new F-150.