Ford F150 News

There's a reason why some nameplates have been around for so long. Many are the pioneering vehicle's in their respective segments, still dominating sales as they did 50, 60, and in some cases, even 70 years ago.

Australia is losing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes thanks to lenient exemptions for utes - particularly full-sized American utes - says a leading policy think tank.

Ford Australia has confirmed the updated F-150 full-size ute will arrive later than initially expected, while keen-eyed Australian fans of America’s darling have spotted an early example of the updated model already here.

After the locally converted Ford F-150 was removed from sale in Australia to address non-compliance issues, the Department of Infrastructure has officially released a series of recalls for the American-built pick-up truck. The recalls concern lighting features and the autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system. Owners will be contacted and can then organise the issues to be rectified at Ford dealerships.Those who took delivery of, or were contracted before, May 6, 2024 are being offered compensation in the form of a five-year/75,000km servicing package. According to the recall notices, the total number of affected vehicles is 2070. Industry sales data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries shows 1085 F-150s have been registered since going on sale in October 2023. Ford promises all vehicles sold from now on at dealers will be fully compliant with Australian Design Rules (ADRs), with the Chevrolet Silverado, RAM 1500 and Toyota Tundra rival now installed back on the Ford Australia website. Each recall concerns one of the four F-150 variants on sale: XLT standard ($106,950) and long wheelbase ($107,945) models along with the Lariat in both wheelbases ($139,950 and $140,945, all before on-road costs).For lighting, the F-150 is not compliant with ADR 06/00-Direction Indicators and ADR 13-Installation of Lighting and Light-signalling Devices. The recalls list issues with the ‘fog lamps’, ‘daytime running lamps’ and ‘indicators’.Ford’s website notes that the ‘rear centre high-mounted white courtesy lamps’, ‘tailgate courtesy lamp’ and ‘side mirror mounted indicator lamps (LWB only)’ have been disabled on the XLT, while the Lariat also has its ‘lower daytime running lamps’ turned off. Additionally, the F-150 was determined in breach of ADR 98-Advanced Emergency Braking for Passenger Vehicles and Light Goods Vehicles. The issue being that the AEB function “may not reactivate after an ignition cycle as per the requirements set out under ADR 98”.A Ford spokesperson told CarsGuide “Repair instructions relating to vehicles impacted by the Stop Sale are now being made available to enable dealers to complete work on impacted units. After the rectification work is completed on each vehicle, it can be delivered to the customer.”So far, the F-150 has been hit by three product safety recalls and two sales pauses in less than 12 months. US-built F-150s are converted locally by partner RMA automotive. RAM and Chevrolet products are also swapped to right-hand drive and revised for Australian standards locally by Walkinshaw, while Toyota is running an extended evaluation program on its Tundra pick-up. The facelifted F-150 went on sale in its United States home market in September 2023 and is expected in Australia by the end of the year. 

Australian MPs at the state and local level have delivered a shocking rebuke to owners of American jumbo trucks, with one councillor describing some owners as "idiots", and a state MP demanding to see "less on our roads".

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.