The story published by autonews.nz two weeks ago has been confirmed – Ford will have right-hand-drive variants of the all-American F-150 pick-up truck available in Australia and New Zealand later this year.
Ford Australia has released pricing and specifications for the F-150, along with a factory-backed, five-year unlimited kilometre warranty. There will be four variants, short and long wheelbase badged XLT and Lariat, riding on 20-inch wheels and starting in price in Australia at $A106,950. That’s $NZ117,500 at the current exchange rate.
The first of the F-150s for the Down Under market have been built at Ford’s plant in Dearborn, Michigan, and are being shipped to Australia, where they will be re-engineered for RHD by Ford and Thailand’s RMA Group, a Ford-backed accessories company.
Each four-wheel-drive F-150 variant will be available as a short wheelbase (SWB) with a 3683mm wheelbase and 1676mm rear deck, or long wheelbase (LWB) with 3987mm between the wheels and a 1981mm rear deck. All F-150 models have a braked towing capacity of 4.5 tonnes.
Powering both the XLT and Lariat is a twin-turbo 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6 petrol engine mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission and delivering 298kW/678Nm.
As usual with Ford Australia’s press releases, it limited the F-150 announcement to what it means to the market across the Tasman. Said its CEO Andrew Birkic: “The F-150 is perfect for those who want to explore our amazing country in luxury and comfort. The F-150 ensures Aussies can go anywhere, with almost anything, at any time.”
The F-150 goes up against Ram and Silverado models in both Australia and New Zealand and is likely to have a further rival in the form of the Toyota Tundra. The autonews.nz story of February 8 said Toyota is expected to confirm the introduction of the Tundra pick-up later this year.
• Ford Australia has the short wheelbase F-150 XLT at $A106,950 and the long wheelbase XLT at $A107,945. The Lariat is the premium model, the short wheelbase listed at $A139,950 and the long wheelbase at $A140,945. That’s a NZ currency spread of $NZ117,500-$NZ154,885.
