Jim Farley Confirms Ford Compact Pickup is Coming
Ford Motor Company President of Global Markets Jim Farley spoke at the Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference last week and confirmed that the automaker is “going to be electrifying the F-Series — battery electric and hybrid,” ostensibly confirming an F-150 Electric down the line. Farley also confirmed, per Automotive News, that the rumored Ford compact pickup is indeed in the works and on the horizon.
Farley said that Ford is “investing in more affordable versions of our truck business.” To achieve this, Farley said that Ford is working on “new nameplates below where we compete today.” Given the launch of the Ranger in the weeks ahead, that suggests the return of the Courier, the compact pickup truck that paved the way for the midsize Ranger.
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Rumors of a new Ford Courier first sprang up this past summer when Automobile reported that the automaker was exploring a unibody small pickup to sit below the Ranger and Road & Track discovered that a trademark had been filed for the Courier name. In December, Ford Authority spotted what appeared to be a heavily camouflaged Courier prototype testing in Detroit, suggesting that the launch window could be sooner than 2022.
Farley did not elaborate any more on his comment; when reached for comment, a Ford spokesperson did not deny the fact, saying instead that the automaker will “have more details to share about new nameplates in the future.”
The new Ford Ranger is set to begin arriving at dealerships sometime over the next several weeks. Ford does not anticipate that its new truck will cannibalize sales of its F-Series, which topped 1 million units worldwide in 2018 and achieved a 42nd year of sales leadership in the United States.
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News Source: Automotive News (subscription required)
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