Ford Motor Co., whose trucks account for the majority of its total sales, announced plans Tuesday to enter a new segment of the market with the introduction of a low cab forward truck.

Ford plans to begin producing the commercial truck in 2005 and market it for use in urban areas for rental and lease applications, company officials said.
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A low cab forward is a short-nosed truck with a front axle set back so the cab and driver sit over the engine. The design gives it exceptional maneuverability, driver visibility and a large cargo area in relation to its overall size, Ford said.

"With sales increasing nearly 50 percent over the past decade, the low cab forward segment is one of the fastest growing niches in the commercial truck industry," Joe Castelli, Ford division commercial truck director, said in a statement.

Ford currently holds more than 40 percent of the commercial truck market, the automaker said. The introduction of the low cab forward is part of an effort by the company to become an even more complete one-stop-shop for commercial vehicles.

The truck is being developed as part of a 2001 joint venture with Navistar International Corp. and will be built at a joint plant in Escobedo, Mexico.

• Engine: Power Stroke® 4.5L V-6 Diesel, 200* HP @3000 rpm, 440* lbs.-ft. torque @1850 rpm

• Transmission: TorqShift™ 5-speed Automatic O/D with Tow/Haul Function

I hope this powertrain combo ends up in the F150 by 2006!!

 

I don't think this will be the diesel that you see in the F150 and even so, you wont see it until 2007 (when the new suphur levels in diesel fuel take effect and current engines wont meet emmisions regs)

this medium duty truck is not subject to the same emmisions rules at the light truck segment so they can offer it and continue to offer it.

And yes, this is the same 4.5 that was slated for the F150 but Navistar continued to develop it anyway. If Ford used this engine, they would have to stop using it in 2007.



If you remember, Ford paid Navistar an undisclosed amount of money when they canceled the project. Using it in this new truck may be part of the settlement.

 

It isn't the diesel that has been chosen and it won't be until 2007. It isn't a Powerstroke or Duramax. But it is one of the three big names you know. You figure it out.

 

Mr_Wizard, could you give us a link to that?
92TripleBlack, it will be a Navistar/International.

 

Cummins was the name bounced around the most.

But who knows... maybe Detroit or Cat may get it.

Nothing firm has been announced.

 

We are bidding on this program and this was in an auto newsletter:


Ford revives V6 diesel plan
AWKnowledge
May 13 2004

FORD has once again revived its plan to install a V6
diesel engine in its light-duty pick-ups and SUVs.
At a recent meeting in Las Vegas, Ford officials told
dealers to expect a V6 diesel engine in the F-150 pickup
and Expedition SUV sometime after 2007, when
low-sulphur diesel fuel becomes available in the US.
The cleaner fuel will enable diesels to meet stricter
emissions standards. An industry source has suggested
that the engine might also be destined for use in the
Lincoln Navigator SUV.

Ford was working on plans two years ago to install a
diesel V6 in the F-150 but abruptly cancelled the project
because the engine might not have met emissions standards.
The engine was to have been supplied by
International Truck and Engine, which makes the Power
Stroke diesel V8 for Ford’s heavy-duty pick-ups.
Sources have suggested that the engine may be built
by Cummins, but admitted that this was not yet definite.
Cummins supplies the inline six-cylinder diesel engine
that powers the Dodge Ram pick-up. But Cummins’
contract with DaimlerChrysler does not preclude the
company from selling a different diesel engine to
another automotive manufacturer.

“Cummins has been out there aggressively trying to
market their V-engine architecture,” says Ed
McLaughlin, an analyst who tracks diesel engines for
the Automotive Technology Research Group, a consulting
firm in Thousand Oaks, California.

Cummins spokesman Mark Land said his company
is working on a V6 diesel engine for light-duty trucks.
He declined to identify any automotive manufacturers
that might buy it.

Ford chief operating officer, Jim Padilla, would not
confirm the company’s V6 diesel plans, but did say that
diesels make the most sense for big SUVs and full-sized
pick-ups.

Nissan and Toyota are expected to offer diesels in the
Titan and Tundra light-duty pick-ups by the end of the
decade. GM also has a V6 diesel truck engine under
development.

 

I've heard differently from one of the guys who's writing the contracts. Supposedly, the maker and most of the Ford people don't know yet and they aren't allow to discuss it until its announced internally. They actually had it in a presentation but were told to remove it because the Ford people they were presenting to didn't know yet.

 

I know this should prolly go into the SD forum, but....



Ford Diesel ??

 

Pickupman here is the link to that pase with the specs from the 4.5l http://www.peckroad.com/ht_flyer.pdf

 

Thanks for the link!
I still think it will be a Navistar/International.