Ford Reveals Plans to Revamp Lineup by 2020, Also Teases Upcoming Models

Ford have announced a number of future plans, vehicles, and technologies with the end goal being to offer the freshest lineup among all full-line automakers in North America, dropping their average showroom age from 5.7 to 3.3 years as they replace nearly three-quarters of its lineup while adding four new trucks and SUVs. Ford says they are planning on going “all-in” on hybrids in order to offer customers more performance and capability while also help reduce the sting of increasing gas prices. 4G LTE connectivity will be in all new Ford vehicles by the end of 2019 and Ford Co-Pilot360 has also been introduced which a new driver-assist technology package with standard automatic emergency is braking that helps protect the front, rear and sides of your vehicle.

Having enjoyed great success with the current F-150 since it was release in 2014, Ford looks to build off of that moving forward starting with the new 3.0L Power Stroke diesel engine for the F-150 due out this year and a slight upgrade for the F-150 Raptor. For 2019, Ford returns to the mid-size truck market here in North America with the reintroduction of the Ranger with the Super Duty due for an update that same year. Moving on to 2020, Ford hopes to debut an all-new F-150 half-ton pickup with a new hybrid powertrain that features a mobile generator.

Crossovers and SUVs appear to be all the rage in the automotive market these days and Ford agrees, even going as far as to suggest that SUV sales could account for 50% of all retail sales which is one of the many reasons they are reallocating $7 billion in capital from cars to SUVs. By 2020, Ford says they plan on having an industry-leading lineup of 8 SUVs, 5 of which will offer hybrid powertrains and one completely electric. After unveiling the subcompact EcoSport for this year as well as the full-size Expedition, Ford’s next target is the high volume SUV segments where they will be releasing new versions of their Escape and Explorer next year which make up nearly 70% of Ford’s SUV volume. Also coming soon in the SUV market is a couple of off-road oriented models including the already announced Bronco and a smaller yet-to-be-named SUV. Finally, Ford also will grow its SUV lineup by offering two performance versions including the Edge ST which is due out later this year with an Explorer ST model soon following.

Ford’s strategy in terms of going all-in on hybrid vehicles includes offering their customers hybrid versions of their most popular and high-volume vehicles such as the F-150, Mustang, Explorer, Escape and upcoming Bronco. Not to be seen as a detriment, Ford will utilize their advanced hybrid systems to provide performance upgrades to already existing vehicles such as more low-end torque for vehicles that require it like the Mustang and F-150. In fact, Ford is currently developing a new hybrid system that will be more efficient and less expensive than previous generations.

In terms of full-blown, battery electric vehicles (BEV) Ford plans on making things easier for owners of such vehicles by making charging an effortless experience while at home and on the road, plus offering full-vehicle over-the-air software updates to enhance capability and features. Ford’s new performance battery electric utility is set to arrive in 2020 and will be the first of six electric vehicles coming by 2022 as part of the company’s $11 billion global electric vehicle investment.

In terms of their commercial vehicles, Ford is the only full-line brand with offerings that go from Class 1 to Class 7. To continue its strong sales, Ford plans to debut a new transit with 4G LTE connectivity in 2019 and to extend production of its E-Series cutaway and stripped chassis in the 2020s. Additionally, they plan on offering safety features to commercial vehicles such as emergency braking, lane departure warning and Driver Alert Systems.

Along with a few other things, Ford also announced they will be moving to flexibile vehicle architectures and more common parts across all models which will cut new product development time by nearly 20%. The auto maker will use five flexible vehicle architectures that will be paired with module families that address the power pack, electrical pack and vehicle configurations.

Finally, along with the entire outline of their plans moving forward Ford also released a few teaser images of some upcoming models including the Ford Bronco, Shelby GT500 and the aforementioned yet-to-be-named small off-road SUV.