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Ford Sells 500,000th EcoBoost F-150 as V8 Goes Extinct

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500,000th EcoBoost F-150

Ford sold its 500,000th EcoBoost F-150 in April. More than 50 percent of all F-150s sold this year have been equipped with a V6 engine.

At the rate things are moving, the V8-powered pickup truck is in the early stages of extinction. The Ford F-Series, the three-decades-running best-seller in the segment, is as clear an indicator of this as any: through the first quarter of 2014, more than 57 percent of all Ford F-150s sold in America use V6 EcoBoost engines. Recently, Ford sold its 500,000th EcoBoost F-150 after a mere three years on the market.


Related: Fallon Chooses the 2015 F-150 King Ranch Edition


500,000th EcoBoost F-150

The milestone was achieved in the short span of 38 months; in that time, those who own EcoBoost-equipped F-150s have combined to save an estimated 56.8 million gallons of gasoline. According to tge EPA, those savings are approximate to:

  • The annual greenhouse gas impact of 413,895 acres of U.S. forests
  • A city in which 70,000 homes going without electricity for a year
  • 6,685 tanker trucks’ worth of gasoline
  • Installing 139 wind turbines

More than 50 percent of all F-150s sold in the first four months of 2014 have been equipped with the 3.7-liter V6 EcoBoost engine. What’s more, 42 percent of all Ford models sold in April were EcoBoost F-150 pickup trucks.


Related: Ford F-150 EcoBoost Hits Milestone and saves 45 Million Gallons of Gas a Year


According to Ford, the gap between V6 and V8 trucks is only expected to widen.

“Today’s customer doesn’t hold to the old notion that a truck must be powered by a V8 engine,” said Doug Scott, Ford truck group marketing manager. “Just five years ago, you would have had a hard time making a case for V6 truck engines. Not today. Now, it’s all about fuel effectiveness. Customers are looking for the best combination of city and highway mileage, horsepower, torque, towing capacity, payload and value, asking the key question, ‘What is the most productive, efficient package for the work I need to do?’.”

Not only is Ford dominating the pickup truck market, as evidenced by selling the 500,000th EcoBoost F-150 this past month, but it’s crushing its competition in the race to capture the V6 pickup truck segment. Since 2010, no other truck maker has surpassed a 20 percent take rate for V6s in half-ton trucks, and Ford accounts for 91 percent of all industry growth as far as V6-equipped trucks are concerned.

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