Super Duty Is ‘Free Press’ Truck of the Year
All-New 2017 Super Duty Adds Another Award to Ford’s Trophy Case
Fresh off winning Motor Trend’s 2017 Truck of the Year award, Ford’s all-new 2017 Super Duty continues to rack up accolades. The latest? The 2017 Detroit Free Press Truck of the Year. Sporting its first major redesign in 18 years, the 2017 Super Duty beat out the Honda Ridgeline and Nissan Titan.
Those major improvements prompted the Detroit Free Press‘ selection, specifically, the improved efficiency, innovation and superb engineering. The new Super Duty comes lighter, roomier, more efficient and stronger than its predecessor.
Despite losing 350 pounds, the heavy-duty line also gains towing capacity and rigidity. Weight savings from the new aluminum body were reinvested in a beefier frame. Fully boxed rails help contribute to a frame that is 24 times stiffer than the outgoing model.
The 2017 Super Duty also comes available with a suite of features not seen in the competition. These include technology like adaptive cruise control and front collision and blind spot alerts. Variable ratio steering makes maneuvering the big truck a cinch.
The Super Duty accounts for roughly 30 percent of Ford’s F-Series sales, making this a very important vehicle. Following the introduction of the new aluminum bodied F-150, Ford had big shoes to fill. And so far, it seems safe to say that they did so in spades.
The fact that medium duty chassis production is now completed in the U.S.A. is just icing on the cake. While many manufacturers are moving production to Mexico (Ford included), these chassis will now be built in Ohio.
Ford went back to the drawing board and returned with a surefire hit that raises the bar for heavy duty trucks. The 2017 Super Duty proves worthy of many accolades, and that should lead to many years of continued sales success.
Photo: Sam VarnHagen
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