Ford said Monday that for the fourth month in a row, more than 57 percent of retail sales of its F-150 light-duty trucks have been powered by V6 engines, and more than 45 percent of the sales have been trucks with the EcoBoost engine.
DETROIT, MI – Ford Motor Co. said Monday that customer preference in pickup trucks appears to be shifting toward more fuel-efficient and smaller six-cylinder engines, as it announced the sale of its 500,000th F-150 model with EcoBoost.
The truck, which has a 3.5-L V6 engine, was introduced to the market a little more than three years ago.
Ford said Monday that for the fourth month in a row, more than 57 percent of retail sales of its F-150 light-duty trucks have been powered by V6 engines, and more than 45 percent of the sales have been trucks with the EcoBoost engine.
The latest trend stands in contrast to the previous 47 years of Ford truck sales, which had been dominated by vehicles with V8 engines under their hoods, the company said.
Ford said that over the last three years, registration total of light-duty trucks with V6 engines has grown more than 600 percent. The company credits the F-150 with 91 percent of that industry growth in V6 truck sales, citing an analysis of Polk retail registration data.
“We expect those numbers to hold for the rest of the year,” said Doug Scott, Ford truck group marketing manager. “It really is amazing when you consider we are doing that with just two V6 engine choices – the 3.5-liter EcoBoost and the 3.7-liter Ti-VCT engine. When we come out with the new 2015 F-150, we will offer three different V6 engines, so there is potential for further growth.”
In March, Ford unveiled a 2015 Expedition with EcoBoost at the 2014 DFW Auto Show in Texas. The automaker said the new engine will deliver more power and performance than the current 5.4-liter V8, and is designed to be more efficient.
With EcoBoost now standard on the 2015 Expedition, the entire U.S. lineup of Ford utility vehicles will be available with EcoBoost engines by the end of 2014, according to Ford. The 3.5-liter will be the only engine offered on the vehicle.
The Dearborn-based automaker did not release performance specifications for the vehicle. In the 2014 F-150 full-size pickup, the engine delivers 365 horsepower and 420 lb.ft. of torque with an 18 mile-per-gallon combined rating of highway and city driving.