A pair of new reports suggests next generation F-150 will be delayed with the current-gen model expected to hold down the fort until 2028.
Two newr eports allege Ford is delaying the launch of the 15th generation F-150 with the current generation model possibly being in production until 2028.
The Ford F-Series is the lifeblood that helps provide the company with a steady stream of sales. The truck is not only the best-selling pickup in the United States but is also one of the strongest-selling vehicles in the United States. This is a legacy Ford takes very seriously and the company puts in an immense amount of effort to make sure the truck is always one step ahead of rivals from Chevrolet and Ram.
However, a pair of new reports suggest that the next generation F-150 will take longer than anticipated with the current F-150 possibly being asked to hold down the fort in sales until 2028 as the company struggles to resolve key issues while still keeping production and sales humming along.
A risky delay for F-150
Ford’s reported delay is risky since it will give rivals a rare opportunity to surpass it with updates of their own trucks.
According to the Automotive News and the Detroit Free Press the 15th generation F-150 has been pushed back with suppliers being told the truck will not begin production in 2027. Instead, it has been delayed a year with production expected to begin in the middle half of 2028. The delay will not be exclusive to the ICE-powered model either with the second-generation F-150 Lightning also seeing its launch delayed too.
The reported delay is a risky one for Ford since the full-size pickup segment is still a hotly contested battleground where constant evolution and updates play a key role in making products stand out to consumers who not only use these trucks for hauling work and other jobs but also as family vehicles with more family buyers embracing crew cab versions of these rigs. The current generation F-150 has been around since 2020 and while it has benefited from a recent update, the core underpinnings are just now starting to show their age. The delay would also give Chevrolet and Ram a rare opportunity to jumpstart updates on the Silverado and Ram 1500 which could rob sales from the aging F-150 if it’s forced to be out on dealer lots for that long.
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Ford moving forward on other projects
Ford CEO Jim Farley recently confirmed the company is working on a new “game changing” mid-size truck model.
While Ford is not commenting on the validity of the report, the company did confirm a short while back that it’s working on an all-new “game-changing” pickup model. While it will allegedly have the same footprint as the Ranger, the new unnamed model will have an all-electric powertrain and would be the first all-electric mid-size truck the company has ever produced.
Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a prior statement the truck will attempt to be “an incredible package and consumer technology for a segment we know well,” according to a statement made by Jim Farley last October. It will sit on a new, lower-cost platform engineered by a “skunkworks” team and is projected to go on sale in 2027. In addition to the new truck, Ford is also focusing on expanding its presence in EVs but admitted it’s a costly endevaor with the company’s EV arm projected to lose between $5 to $5.5 billion this year.
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