Production Of Ford’s F-150 Has Just Begun
Ford knows that a large part of how well its all-new F-150 (or any pickup truck, for that matter) will do depends on the number of vehicles they can send to dealerships. If the truck is back-ordered for months, customers will go look at the competition.
This is why the manufacturer is not taking any risks: at the River Rouge factory (where the F-150 has been produced since 1948) more than 850 employees and 500 robots have been added to the workforce to build more pickups. A new factory (located in Claycomo, Missouri) will also begin building F-150s starting next year. Overall, Ford expects its annual production to be over 700,000 units, which will be sold in 90 markets around the world.
Dealerships are eagerly awaiting the new vehicles: customers’ orders have been sent. Plus, they know a large percentage of potential buyers will want to see and test-drive the truck, and dealers will want some in their inventories should the customer decide to buy one.
Speaking of these inventories, don’t expect to walk into a Ford dealership tomorrow morning and see rows and rows of 2015 F-150s. According to the manufacturer, dealership orders (which means trucks that have yet to be sold to customers) won’t be completed until the second quarter of 2015.