The 40 millionth F-Series truck just rolled off a Ford assembly line nearly 75 years after the company began making them. The F-Series is America’s most popular brand of trucks, with more than 16 million on the road today.
Ford announced the milestone on Thursday, though it’s keeping the fanfare internal. The truck, an Iconic Silver F-150 Tremor, is headed to Texas. The automaker isn’t informing the dealer about the vehicle’s importance, Fox News said. The 400-horsepower, turbocharged V-6 truck sells for about $53,000, depending on the options.
Ford hung a banner in its Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan, acknowledging the achievement as the truck came off the assembly line. The automaker also posed the F-150 Tremor next to a 1948 F-1, the first generation of the F-Series, to show its evolution.
Ford launched the F-series in 1948, according to Ford Authority. The company has expanded the line ever since, with the automaker introducing the 14th generation of F-150 last year. It’s been the best-selling pick-up truck for the past four decades, and the number one selling vehicle for more than 30 years.
Last year, Ford sold 726,004 F-150s, a nearly 8 percent decrease from the previous year. But it still held firm as America’s top truck. The Dodge Ram 1500 finished second with 569,388 trucks sold, Kelly Blue Book said.
Toyota announced last year that it had built its 50 millionth Corolla. But since it makes the car in factories spread out in eight countries, Toyota is not sure which Corolla earned that distinction.
Ford Bets Big on F-150 Lightning, Doubling Production
Ford announced its F-150 Lightning last year and expects to begin making and delivering them in the spring. It’s the first electric version of the popular truck, and Ford is going all-in.
The company will double its production output of the Lightning to meet the overwhelming demand. Ford CEO Jim Farley told Jim Cramer last month that 200,000 people had put down a $100 reservation for the F-150 Lightning.
“We have a dedicated team right now just doing one thing: finding a way to double our capacity by finding batteries, whatever it takes, to double our capacity of Lightning,” Farley said at the time. Earlier this month, Ford said it would meet that goal.
The base model of the F-150 Lightning begins at $39,974 and can reach as much as $90,000 for the Platinum edition. Customers who put down the $100 refundable deposit will begin receiving emails in the coming months about purchase options for the truck, Ford said recently.
Ford plans to invest more than $11 billion to build two massive facilities in Kentucky and Tennessee to manufacture electric vehicles and the batteries that power them. It marks the largest, single investment in Ford’s history.
The automaker said in September that it expects a third of its sale to come from electric vehicles by the end of the decade.
