Ford and Chrysler Set to Unleash New Pickup Models in Detroit

The market for pickup trucks in the U.S. is beginning to get even more crowded. The competitive edge in this market has gone even finer; thanks to the newer models from American automobile giants Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC set to roll out soon.

What mixes things up even more is the fact that the new models from these two automobile leviathans in the U.S. have better features and performance compared to the models already available.

Ford already has the highest selling pickup trucks in the U.S., thanks to their superb F-series. Now, they are all set to unleash the F-150 at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show. Chrysler too is set to rock the show with its new, totally revamped Dodge Ram.

While the show itself will be opened to the public Saturday, the two new models will be available for a peek on Sunday. The F-150 and the Dodge Ram will make their market debuts in fall 2009. The new models come at the end of intensive research and work to iron out the chinks in earlier models so they have increased efficiency and features.

The Ram will boast of a lockable storage container, a first for the pickup market. The container would be built into the bed rails. Besides, this will be a four-door crew cab, a first for Dodge.

The F-150 is more emission friendly than its predecessors, thanks to a capless fuel system. It also boasts of steps that you can stow away, built into the vehicle’s tailgate and side.

The enhancements have been featured in to improve sagging sales in 2007. The housing and construction market fiasco of 2007 had severely affected the sales figures of both Ford and Chrysler. As the housing and construction problems took center stage, sales figures in the pickup market took a severe jolt, falling six percent.

The six percent drop in 2007 pickup sales was twice the three percent drop in sales across the automobile industry. In 2007, buyers picked up 2.2 million pickups, compared to the 2.5 million in 2004, when the previous version of the F-150 hit the market.

However, despite the renewed optimism at Ford and Chrysler owing to the two new launches, the prediction for pickup sales continues to be on the grimmer side. According to the vice president for auto industry forecasting at IRN Inc., Erich Merkle, 2008 would be another testing year for the pickups.

Merkle said considering the bottom of the home construction scene would not materialize until towards the end of 2008, and given that even when that scenario reaches rock bottom there would be no slingshot movement upwards, the pickup industry would possibly continue to have a tough time.

According to Merkle, while there was the possibility of a decent upward movement in 2009, there was nothing to suggest things would be rosier for the pickup segment in the immediate future.

Another problem for the pickups could be a possible battle over pricing. This could be majorly influenced by two factors – the slowing down of the market and also Toyota Motor Corp.’s 2007 offering, the new Tundra. Edmunds.com, an auto research website, said both Toyota and General Motors Corp. were offering incentives worth almost $3,000 for their 2007 full-size trucks.

Ford and Chrysler have not talked pricing as yet. They are simply banking on their vehicles to sell more numbers because they were good vehicles, and hoping the economic scenario and pricing would not overly influence prospective buyers.

How much the new vehicle means for Chrysler is easily apparent when you consider it pulled Ralph Gilles, the principal designer of Chrysler’s earlier huge success, the 300C sedan into the Ram project.

At Ford too, Mark Fields, president of the Americas, stopped work on the F-150 a couple of years ago to ensure it would beat rivals hands down when its newer version finally launched.

A team of around a 1,000, comprising designers, engineers, and researchers worked on the new F-150. Patrick Schiavone, the lead designer of the new F-150 said the team looked at more than 200 designs in the process of developing the new F-150.

The topmost priority for designers of both the models was fuel efficiency. Ford used V-8 engines for enhanced fuel efficiency, to the tune of a mile a gallon, for all 35 configurations of the F-150. Some models had six-speed transmissions.

Engineers at Ford achieved weight reduction for the new F-150, by as much as 25 to 30 pounds, using lighter high strength steel, while the addition of a wing to the grooved tailgate improved aerodynamics. With the intention of changing the general perception that Ford pickups are not luxurious, the F-150’s shifter, controls, and interiors underwent total redesign.

The new Ram will offer enhanced fuel efficiency, by as much as four percent, thanks to a new HEMI V-8. A further 30 percent increase will be possible in 2009 with the introduction of a diesel model. Another aspect that has undergone significant changes is aerodynamics. The most significant changes are, however, in the interiors. Gilles said the new-look Ram would have top-of-the-line features in terms of fit as well as finish.