Ford F series loses title as top-selling vehicle in May

Gee, Ford seems to think that the May sales were important, too, as is the trend of declining F series trucks.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff
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Of course. The new F-150 is butt ugly!!

Reply to
Bill P.

Actually, there are other big changes in the US market:

1) GM sold less than 10,000 more vehicles than Toyota. In other words, Toyota sold almost as many vehicles as GM in the US. 2) GM is closing four plants that make trucks/SUVs. 3) Total GM sales down 28%. 4) Chrysler is in deep doo-doo, with truck sales down nearly 1/4 and car sales around 1/3. 5) Toyota sales down 8%. 6) Honda had its best month ever in the US, with a 15.6% increase in sales.

Interesting month for car sales.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

The 150 is the oldest design truck on the market, so I suspect Ford is pleased they have been able to hold on to the #1 spot in gthe truck market.

Toyota has wasted billions trying to buy market share. They should have spent more time on the design and less time on misleading commercials. I doubt there has been a net increase in American jobs. Ask the people who used to work at the Ford truck plant in Norfolk if they think there was an increase in the number of people building half ton trucks. Shifting jobs to Texas is not the same as creating jobs. And since Toyota pays less and hires many temps, it is likely the net effect on the US economy will be negative.

Here in NC I see more Tundra commercial than Ford and Chevy truck commercials combined. And Toyota is practically ignoring its better truck (the Tacoma) in ads. They are trying to make up for designing a loser truck with advertising and incentives. The money would have been better spent elsewhere.

When you annoucne a understated sales target of 200,000 a year, build capactiy to build twice that many, and then miss even the understated target by 35%, yes that is burning money. Bad plannning, bad truck, wasted money. The old Tundra was actually a better product. They only need to fix the piston slap probems and improve the cab room and they would have had a truck that was jsut about right for the half ton market. Instead they took all the worst ideas from Ford, Chevy, and Dodge and rolled them up into an oversized gas sucking pig.

It is sad that they built such a stupid truck.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

More like a mediocre truck at a really bad time.

Near one? I've driven one. And it is a pig. What do you mean by "officially a mid-sized pick-up?" Go comapre it to the others in the class (F150, Silverado 1500, Dodge Ram 1500) and get back to me.

I am just giving you my opinion. I liked the old Tundra. If the V-8 had been better, and/or if the dealer had been willing to deal, I would have bought one. I ended up with a Frontier instead.

While the Hilux has also grown, it is still not as large as the US Tacoma.....2.4 inches narrower, 1.2 in shorter, etc. The Hilux specs are from the UK web site

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). I wish they would offer the 3.0l diesel in the US. Hilux (4 door cab)

Width 1835 mm = 72.2 in Lenght 5255 mm = 206.9 in Track 1540/1540 mm fr/rr =60.6 in Wheelbase 3085 mm =121.5

Tacoma (4 door cab)

Width 74.6 in Lenght 208.1 in Track 63.0/63.4 fr/rr Wheelbase 127.8 in

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Yes, and GM and Ford can do no wrong and their products are consistently superior to anything from Japan or Europe. we know. Did you have anything intelligent to contribute to the discussion?

nate

Reply to
N8N

Probably because the trend is that trucks as a market segment are universally in a decline.

nate

Reply to
N8N

Ford even had some good news as far as car slaes were concerned. Fusion, Focus, and even the Taurus are doing OK. The Mustang is in the toilet though. Overall Ford CAR sales were up in May. Of course a minor increase in car sales could not offset a major decrease in ttruck sales.

However, overall, I would have to give Fords new CEO high marks. He amde some tough decisions when he came on board, but for the most part they appear to be the right ones. IMy farm is near the Norfolk Ford palnt that was closed down. It was tough on the worker there, but clearly it was the right move for Ford. I do wonder if Ford might reconsider the decision to shut down the Ranger plant. Seems to me that truck might get new life with current gas prices.

Ed

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Are you joking or trying to look like a maroon?

That "smaller" Hilux is still 4100+ pounds, just like the North American Tacoma. I sat in one in Iceland.

2.4 inches narrower and 1.2 inches shorter? Those are slightly different body contours. The width is probably the plastic over fenders that snap on.

I gotta' say it again... _1.2 INCHES_ SHORTER??? =8^)

Ed, know when to let it go!

Reply to
Valued Corporate #120,345 Empl

no offense but where'd those stats come from?

Reply to
someone

i drove a focus rental today. the mileage was really good and it was peppy. it rode well, too. i'm not a ford fan and was really impressed. it beat the chevy and subaru same-class boxes i've rented recently.

Reply to
someone

The length for a truck is pretty much dictated by the smallest cab that people can fit in and the length of the bed. The track of the Hilux is almost 3 inches less and the wheelbase is over 6 inches less. None of those is related to the plastic fender flares Toyota tacks on to the Tacoma in the US. In my prior note, I only compared the dimensions for similar 4 door models with the short bed. I would expect the length to be similar for these vehicles. UK men are not substantially smaller than US men, and the bed lengths are the same. The shortest US Tacoma (4x2, reg cab) is 190.4 inches long. The shortest UK Hilux is actually longer, but then they don't offer a short bed on the reg cab in the UK.

The curb weight of the European Hilux trucks range from 3604 lb for a base regular cab 4x2 to 4177 lb for the double cab 4x4. All the UK spec Hilux trucks include diesel engines, which I suspect are considerably heavier than US spec gasoline engines. The US spec Tacomas are actually considerably lighter than the Hilux. The regular cab 4x2 has a curb weight of only 3200 lb. The Tacoma 4x4 double cab with the long bed (which is not available in the UK) is close to the European Hilux with a curb weight of 4155 (despite the lighter engine and much longer bed and the much longer length - 221 in,

14 inches longer than the longest UK Hilux). The US spec Tacoma also has a lower payload capacity, only 1495 lb compared to over 2300 lb for the UK spec Hilux.

I guess the net is, although I like the US Tacoma, it is unnecessarily larger and can carry less than the Hilux trucks available elsewhere. I suspect it also rides better, has a nicer interior, and is much quieter. For use on my farm, I'd love to have the 2300 lb payload capacity. I've actually had more than that on my Frontier (46 50 lb bags of seed, plus me, plus tools - probably a total payload over 2700 lbs) but I would not want to drive far like that. It seems to me with a 2300 lb rated payload capacity, I'd be able to get 3200 on the truck or more...

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Have you sat in both trucks?

I have.

So, feel free to write paragraph after paragraph of "yabut".

Reply to
Valued Corporate #120,345 Empl

Enjoy the pics, Ed...

That white Hilux is shockingly smaller than the silver Tacoma.

Reply to
Valued Corporate #120,345 Empl

And what does that prove? You seems to ty to claim that the Hilux sold in Eurpoe and the Tacoma are the same truck under the skin, when clearly they are not. You seem to dismiss difference in width, track, wheelbase, and payload as trival, yet they are real. I agree that the current European Hilux is much larger than prior models, but it is still not as large as the current US spec Tacoma. Interestingly, in Australia, they sell yet a different size Hilux:

Lenght: 4975, 5130, 5255 mm = 196", 202", 207" (similar to a Tacoma, but we discussed why that would be the case already) Width: 1760 mm = 69.7" (almost 5" narower than a Tacoma) Track Frt/Rr: 1510 mm = 59.5" (almost 4" narrower than a Tacoma) Wheelbase: 3085 mm = 121.5" (around 6" sharter than a Tacoma)

Is this a significant difference?

And in Austraila, they get the gas V6 and I4 and the 3.0L Diesel. I am jealous.

No, I have not sat in a European Spec Hilux (unless you mean the "good old small ones"). Have you sat in an Asian spec Hilux? I have sat in a Tacoma (my SO's father ownes an Access Cab and I test drove one before I bought the Frontier). Specs are specs. Despite your assertions, the specs indicate that the European Hilux is both smaller and more capable than the US Tacoma - at least if you actully need a truck instead of a reduced function car. This is my major gripe about half ton trucks inthe US. They have gone from being work trucks to some sort of jacked up faux car thing. Ford has been as guilty of this as anyone. In seems that each new F150 model is a less attractive work truck than the previous model (at least since the mid 90's). The current Tundra is even worse than the current F150, at least if you want a work truck. I suppose if you want a hulking pig to impress your neighbors, it is as good a paper weight as anybody else's POS but as far as I am concerned it was a huge mistake (as is the current F150, and probably the future F150 as well).

Reply to
C. E. White

Tundra rebates are $7,000 in some markers. Go to any Manheim Auction and you can find all the brand new 2008 Tundra's you want, as low as 25K for FWD models. Toyota is even dumping them on the rental car market without the standard reservation requirement to keep them in service for at least six months. The same is true of Solara's, Hertz is loaded with them

Reply to
Mike hunt

1978, not 1976.

Ed

Reply to
Ed White

And it was Dec. 1992, not 1991, too (second to last time the f150 was outsold by a car).

Reply to
Jeff

As of the 2007 model year, Ford has had the number one selling individual model for the model YEAR since 1976 a total of 31 consecutive years.

Ford may indeed be out sold buy the end of the 2008 model year but it really does not matter who sells more in a particular month, it is the total at the end of the model year. Suggesting one month in significant is like saying a team won the ball game because they out scored the other team in the first quarter of the came. The car sales sited included '08 as well as '09 models not onely '08 models, as is the case for the 'F' Series

May, for instance, is not one of the months when buyers of large number of trucks purchase their vehicles. Typically they buy early in the first six months of sales not the last. Those that buy vehicles late in the season are one time buyers who believe they can save money at the end of the model year.

Reply to
Mike hunt

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