Just last week, Ford Philippines made a big splash revealing that two upcoming North American-sourced vehicles are coming to the country—the all-new F-150 Lariat 4x4 Diesel and the all-new Explorer Limited.
For the most part, it did generate an overwhelmingly positive buzz, but dig deeper and this piece of news revealed one big elephant in the room: Ford just stopped production of the 3.0-liter Powerstroke Diesel in the U.S.
Confirmed by Ford through various North American car websites including Car and Driver and Autoblog, Ford Motor Company stopped taking orders for the Powerstroke-equipped F-150 last July 16, 2021. Deliveries though will continue over the rest of the year.
Ford themselves say the reason behind the discontinuation of the diesel-powered F-150 is down to two interconnected things. First, Americans overwhelmingly prefer either the EcoBoost (turbocharged gasoline) or PowerBoost (gasoline-electric hybrid) options. Together with the ongoing semiconductor shortage, Ford made the inspired move to concentrate on more popular variants/trims instead.
With that in mind, what does that mean for F-150 units destined for the Philippines? Will this result in limited numbers available to customers?
Reaching out to Ford Philippines, they issued the following statement:
“We are aware of the latest developments around the all-new Ford F-150 Lariat. At Ford, we remain focused on meeting customer demand in our products and services by working closely with our global Ford colleagues and local dealers.”From this, it can be gathered that Ford will have ample supply of diesel-fed F-150s for the Philippine market. At the same time, it doesn’t sound like they’ll be treating it as a limited volume/time offer. This bodes well for those who’re still on the fence on plopping down a reservation at their local Ford dealership.
As a refresher, the 3.0-liter Powerstroke Diesel in the F-150 Lariat 4x4 generates 250 horsepower at 3,250 rpm. More impressively, it’s got an earth-twisting 595 Nm of torque from as low as 1,750 rpm. This is mated to a 10-speed automatic.
Since pickup trucks are considered as lifestyle vehicles in the country, it’s very likely that the diesel-fed F-150 Lariat 4x4 will occupy a potential vacuum in the carmaker’s line-up. With the all-new Ranger arriving in 2022, it’s expected that the high-performance Raptor version (also rumored to be powered by the same Powerstroke Diesel), won’t arrive until sometime 2023. With no high-po Ranger to sell, Ford Philippines will use this opportunity to sell the oil-burning F-150 in its place.
Eh, no different than the dieselgate Jetta and Golf Sportwagens, and to a lesser extent the FJ Cruiser.
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