Ford have been quite proud of what they’ve done with the 2015 F-150, as the company has been talking a lot about the technological improvements in the new model, as well as the changes in its visual design that have given the truck a much more modern appearance. And while most critics have been very positive towards the truck, some of Ford’s competitors seem a bit less enthusiastic about it – in particular, Chevrolet have made some rather questionable statements about the F-150.
Tom Wilkinson, a representative for Chevrolet, expressed his doubts about the F-150, claiming that the truck’s improvements have been a “nice update” – a far less enthusiastic statement than what most critics have been describing the truck with – while he wasn’t so sure about the deal in some other regards, such as insurance costs and body repairs in remote areas.
Still, Ford didn’t seem phased by the comments, and have been continuing their own campaign of promoting the F-150 and all of its improvements. The company has been very active in the marketing department lately, and every time they make a public statement, it usually emphasizes the many improvements they have introduced to the 2015 F-150. And indeed, Mike Levine of Ford reminded that the truck has been the best-selling truck model in the US for 38 years in a row, and the best-selling vehicle overall for 32 years in the States.
This has been in direct response to the remarks made by Wilkinson, although Levine did not go into detail about Ford’s views on those statements. It’s certainly nice to see that Ford aren’t resorting to the same tactics used by Chevrolet, and they have been focusing on promoting their own vehicles without trying to downplay the competition.
The 2015 F-150 is an interesting model for additional reasons too – Ford have been stepping up the use of robots and automation in their production lines, and they’ve “hired” 500 new robots for the manufacturing of the F-150, all equipped with modern tools. In addition, the robots are reported to be nearly noiseless, doing their work in almost complete silence. This is a refreshing change from the scenery of a typical automotive production line from a few decades ago, typically associated with a lot of noise and chaos.
Will the new F-150 take the market by storm like Ford are claiming? The line certainly has a great history so far, and there is a very strong potential that the new release will be similarly successful as well – but of course, until the model actually comes out, there’s no way to know, and there’s always the possibility that Ford’s changes may not be received well by everyone.