Ford’s teaser images were the highlight of today’s
future product announcement but they were just a small portion of the overall
presentation. Ford
revealed it will have “North America’s freshest lineup” by 2020 as more than 75
percent of its current portfolio will be replaced. The company will also add
four new trucks and SUVs such as the Ranger.
Ford says this massive overhaul
will see the “average showroom age” of its models drop from 5.7 years to just
3.3 years. On the truck side, Ford will introduce the new
F-Series Super Duty next year and it will be sold alongside the Ranger. One
year later, the automaker will introduce the new F-150.
Little is known about the redesigned truck but Ford
has previously said 90 percent of the manufacturing equipment used to make the
current F-150 can be reused for the next-generation model. The automaker also
confirmed the truck will have a hybrid powertrain which enables the model to
act as a mobile generator for powering tools and other equipment.
On the crossover and SUV side, the Blue Oval will
have an “industry-leading lineup of eight SUVs” by 2020. Five of these models
will be offered with a hybrid powertrain, while one will be a battery electric
vehicle. As we reported in our previous article, Ford will introduce the
next-generation Escape and Explorer next year. They will be joined by the
Bronco in 2020 and an “off-road small utility” which looks like it could be a
Jeep Renegade or Compass competitor.
Ford will also be going “all-in on hybrids” as the
fuel-saving tech will be offered on high-volume models including the Bronco,
Escape, Explorer, Mustang and F-150. Ford wasn’t ready to go into specifics but
said the Mustang Hybrid will be “all about delivering V8-like performance with
more low-end torque.” The automaker went on to say its first “performance
battery electric utility” will arrive in 2020. It will be one of six electric
vehicles introduced by 2022.
Ford said their electric vehicles will have an
“effortless” recharging system and over-the-air software updates to “enhance
capability and features.”
On the commercial side, Ford will introduce a new
Transit with 4G LTE connectivity next year. The company will also expand the
E-Series lineup and offer modern driver assistance systems – such as automatic
emergency braking, lane departure warning and a driver alert system – on models
such as the E-Series, F-650 and F-750.
Also, Ford intends to cut costs by using flexible architectures and more
common parts. The company plans to have five flexible architectures –
body-on-frame, front-wheel-drive unibody, rear-wheel-drive unibody, commercial
van unibody and BEV – and says “70% of each vehicle’s engineering will be
driven from this new architecture approach.” The remaining 30% – such as
“grilles, hoods, doors and more” – will be unique to each vehicle.
Lastly, Ford will be rolling out its Co-Pilot360
suite of driver assistance systems to global markets starting this fall. The
company says it’s the “most advanced suite of standard driver-assist technologies
among full-line brands” and will include automatic emergency braking, a blind
spot warning system, lane keeping assist, a rearview camera and automatic
high-beam headlights.
