2018 Ford F-150: The Bold & the Beautiful (and Really Strong!)
Ford listened to truck enthusiasts when redesigning the F-150 for 2018.
With the new engine, and incredible technology throughout the vehicle, the new 2018 F-150 was already going to be a great truck on the inside. Now, we know for certain, the new F-150 is going to be a beautiful truck as well. It’s clear with the new F-150 design, Ford has decided to focus on what customers expect from a Ford truck – strength, functionality, and style.
“We call our F-Series customers ‘bold guardians of the brand,’” says Ford truck design chief Gordon Platto. “These customers know our Built Ford Tough DNA, and they want their trucks to convey strength, capability, boldness and power – without being ‘in your face’ aggressive.”
The first thing that customers are going to notice in the 2018 F-150 is the grille. Borrowing from the F-Series Super Duty, the new truck gets the billet-milled body, with a horizontal twin-bar grille. The new grille is there to convey strength, precision and muscularity, while also showing off the width of the vehicle. Wrapped around the twin-bar grille, are two C-shaped LED headlamps with daytime running. The nose and fenders have also been given a chamfered look, showing the power and toughness of the F-150.
“F-150 needs to look solid, confident and capable,” says Sean Tant, Ford design manager, truck studio. “All design elements need to have individual as well as collective strength. We wanted to continue with the billet-milled style introduced in 2015 while visually making the truck look wide and planted.”
Ford is making sure that customers know they were on the top of the engineers’ minds when designing this new F-150. They know that the loyal customers are the reason that the F-Series line of trucks has been the best selling vehicles in the US for decades.
“Our success starts and ends with our customers,” says Tant. “We always go back to our customers to test our designs. They want their truck to embody the F-Series brand identity and purpose-built appearance, so we continually rework our designs and retest them until we get it right.”
When you look at the truck from the side, you see the F-150 design elements that customers have loved for years, like the drop-down in the front doors. The wheel openings, along with the wheel and tire proportions, are where the strength of the F-150 is emphasized. There are six all-new wheel designs ranging from 17 inches to a massive 22 inches.
“When we are designing F-150, we really look at the truck through the eyes of our customers,” says Tant. “We pay attention to detail, and always strive to ensure the truck demonstrates quality – in how its lines meet, accelerate and move through space. We always work to ensure a proper crown is added to the surfaces.”
Overall, the new 2018 F-150 is another beautiful redesign that shows that Ford listens to their customers’ wants and needs. They built a truck that is made to be tough and powerful, but with a style that isn’t overly aggressive like some models out there. Without a doubt, the new F-150 will confidently continue the success of the previous 70 years worth of models.
https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2017/05/10/tougher-styling-underscores-new-2018-f150s-built-ford-tough.html
