The country’s best-selling vehicle may now cost more than $70,000. The high-end sticker price belongs to a limited edition of the soon-to-debut 2016 Ford F-150 pickup.
Ford has announced the F-150 Limited will be available in late 2015 as a 2016 model. The manufacturer has not announced price details, but the new offering will start at about $60,000 and will likely surpass $70,000 with all of its options.
The new edition will feature include 22-inch polished aluminum wheels, Mojave leather seats and interior accents made of aluminum and fiddleback eucalyptus. Each truck’s production number will be laser-engraved in a VIN plate on the center console lid.
“The F-150 Limited sets a new bar for what discerning customers should expect in a high-end truck,” Raj Nair, Ford’s product development chief, said. “We’re adding segment-exclusive technology, and features that improve productivity, convenience and capability with distinctive style.”
Ford offered a Limited trim on the 2013 and 2014 F-150, at a starting price of about $53,000, but discontinued it when the aluminum-bodied model was introduced as a 2-15 model.
The Limited trim isn’t expected to sell in large numbers, it gives Ford another way to maximize revenue from the hugely profitable F-series lineup. Its starting price is about $10,000 more than that of the Chevrolet Silvardo High Country $8,000 more than a Ram 1500 Limited and the same as a BMX X6.
“There’s a lot of people who buy trucks as both a work tool and a status symbol,” said Karl Brauer, senior director of insights for Kelley Blue Book, told Automotive News. “You have a lot of wealthy businesspeople who have the money to buy an extremely capable and extremely luxurious truck. It’s not any financial stretch for these people to spend 50 or 70 grand.”
In the first half of this year, Ford said 60 percent of F-Series sales were so-called high-series trims: Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum. The truck’s average transaction price jumped 9 percent to $44,100 from a year ago.
Ford sold about 190,000 F series for more than $50,000 last year, TrueCar estimated, outselling BMW’s 3, 5 and 7 series combined and the entire Audi brand.
The F-150 Limited will have a 3.5-liter, EcoBoost V-6 engine, which is a $400 option on the King Ranch and Platinum trims. It will have a unique grille, raised “Limited” lettering on the hood and a satin-chrome exterior accents. The interior contains massaging front seats, a Sony 10-speaker sound system and scuff plates with “ice blue” backlighting.
Article Last Updated: July 21, 2015.
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