Ford F150 News

It’s funny, I always thought I had the controversial automotive topics down pat.

The influx of full-size utes from the USA has been a controversial development, with WWII American GI-style sentiment along the lines of ‘over-sized, over-priced and over-here’ summing up the negative commentary.

Ford Australia has been forced to halt deliveries of its big F-150 pick-up due to a compliance issue.A company spokesperson said it has placed a temporary hold on the sale and delivery of all F-150s in Australia as “certain lighting features do not conform to Australian regulatory requirements.”“Affected vehicles cannot be delivered to customers until appropriate rectification work is complete,” said the spokesperson.Ford has recognised the inconvenience to customers and is giving a complimentary five year/75,000km service program to all F-150 customers whose vehicle had either been delivered or contracted by the sixth of May.Australian delivered F-150s are imported from America and then converted to right-hand drive in a Melbourne factory by RMA Automotive on behalf of Ford Australia.The conversion is a big operation and isn’t as simple as shifting the steering wheel from left to right but involves hundreds of parts and man hours to complete.It’s easy to understand how small issues can slip through the cracks, but this isn’t the first time Ford has been forced to pause deliveries of the F-150 since it went on sale late in 2023.Earlier this year another stop sale order was applied to the F-150 because of a potential fault with the turbocharger.The F-150 has also been hit with three recall notices in the short time it has been on sale.One was for non compliant indicator lights and another was for a parking brake fault that could result in it activating while driving.The third recall was due to a faulty electrical connection between the steering wheel airbag, horn and electrical systems due to improper welding. If this fails there could be a loss of steering wheel illumination, non-functioning steering wheel control switches, an inoperative horn, and the airbag warning light will illuminate which may result in the driver’s airbag becoming inoperative.Ford has found some success with the F-150 with sales of about 800 through the first four months of this year, which makes it the second most popular American pick-up behind the Ram 1500.It’s no coincidence the rise of the F-150 has seen Ram’s sales decrease by about 800 through to April this year compared to the first four months of 2023, which is before the F-150 went on sale.

A right-hand drive version of the Ford F-150 Lightning has been spotted in Australia by CarsGuide, but the Blue Oval has no plans to launch the car locally.

Full-sized US pick-ups, considered gas-guzzling monstrosities by some in our country, have found favour in the Aussie market with those who need a big comfortable work-and-play vehicle that is capable of towing more than the Aussie mainstream ute benchmark of 3500kg.

Australian automotive manufacturing could now employ more people than worked at Ford's Broadmeadows and Geelong factories and Holden's Elizabeth factory combined when local manufacturing officially ended in Australia in 2016 and 2017.The boom is being dri

Ford Australia is open to any of its global models, including the new electric Explorer, as it looks to diversify its line-up to become less-reliant on the success of its Ranger ute.

Ford Australia is making a big deal of the way the F-150 pick-up is being converted from left to right-hand-drive for our market.

Almost one in five new vehicles sold in Australia in 2023 have been a ute. The modern ute comes in a variety of shapes, sizes and prices, which has helped it evolve from functional tool to a desirable alternative to an SUV or sedan.

Ford’s just-revealed facelifted 2024 F-150 has been confirmed for an Australian introduction late next year – about 15 months after the local-market introduction of the model year 2023 full-size pick-up.