Apparently, buyers of the F-150 trucks are opting for the smaller engines.
America’s best-selling vehicle in 2018 is facing a bit of hiccup: its buyers are opting for the Ford F-150 trucks with smaller engine displacements.
According to a report by Automotive News Canada, the demand for the 5.0-liter V8-powered F-150 pickup trucks is declining, to the point that the production for this engine type in the Essex engine plant in Canada would need to be cut down.
A Ford Canada spokesperson told the car news website that the move was made to “better align with consumer demand” – something that Ford has been doing so since last year when it dropped the cars in its U.S. lineup in favor of crossovers and SUVs.
Currently, the Ford F-150 is being offered in five engine variants, which include the 2.7-, 3.3-, 3.5- and 5.0-liter gasoline mills and a diesel power plant. Unifor Local 200 President John D’Agnolo said that among these engine choices, the 5.0L V8 suffered a huge deal of demand decrease. Unifor Local 200 is a local union that represents the auto industry workers of Ford Motor Company in Canada.
With this, there will be changes in production shifts in October, going down to two instead of the current three shifts. Fortunately, Ford Canada said that there will be no job cuts as a result of the production shift changes.
“All employees affected by the shift reduction will have the opportunity to move to Windsor Engine Plant Annex to support 7.3-liter engine production,” Ford Canada spokesman Matthew Drennan-Scace wrote in an email to Automotive News Canada.
The Windsor engine plant is just a 15-minute drive from the Essex plant.
Source: Automotive News Canada