Ford F150 is going Powerstroke Diesel

Ralph Cramden wrote:

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
If Ford gets it right they will sell a ton of them. No mater what some of you say, a gas verses diesel engine in the same vehicle will always have the diesel out in front in the MPG benchmark. My little 3.0 can make 32 mpg all day long and at 77 mph it makes 27.8 mpg. The Ecoboost can't come anywhere close to that at the same speeds. Now if diesel jumps to a buck or more then gas than your savings are equal but the towing still goes to the diesel.

My guess is Ford will end up over pricing it and that would be the only thing that would keep them from selling a ton of them.

Don

No matter what some say, at 40 to 50 cents per gallon more for fuel, even with the better mpg you'll need to go quite a few miles, tens of thousands yearly, before reaching the break even point. That's without even factoring in the upfront increased hard cost which there will be. May work for some, not for most, because 95% or more of the average Joe's out there never tow anything. Niche market. Most fleet buyers will still go with the F250 or 350. One thing I would never do is buy the first model year produced, and maybe the 2nd, that's with Ford or anyone else. I'm sure Ford will get it right, but I for one have been a member of their testing and R&D department before unvoluntarily, as well as GM a few times, and never will again.

If your towing often, why one would not go with the beefier, everything from brakes to frame, and full floater, that you get with the heavier diesel truck. Even if you are towing a lighter, smaller rig, than you get with a glorified 1/2 ton. But it's not my money. Whatever floats it for you.

Yep, even Ford only expects a 5% take rate.

Trucks.com wrote:
Ford expects a 5 percent of F-Series buyers to opt for the diesel, Filipe said. But its Dagenham Engine Plant in Essex, England, where the engine is built, will be prepared to meet increased demand.

Ford Aims for 30 MPG With Launch of F-150 Diesel Engine

I said 10% earlier because I wanted to be overly optimistic for this little diesel. Heck, even Ram and GM don't expect more than a 15% take rate on their small diesels. Only a very small percent of half ton truck buyers will actually benefit from the savings. Small diesels in big trucks is one of those things that sounds great until you actually go drive one, put pen to paper on the savings, and compare this to other more powerful engines. Most will be willing to pay $25 more each month in fuel for more powerful engine options so the fuel savings is a moot point to them.