#ChassisCabs

Despite GM having exited the medium duty market, Ford isn’t resting on its laurels. It’s F-650 and F-750 chassis cabs, which are primarily used for towing and commercial grade hauling work are receiving a few updates. One of the most significant is the adoption of the 6.8-liter V-10 found in the lighter Super Duty trucks (F-250-F-550) for the 2012 model year. According to Len Deluca, Director of Ford’s Commercial Truck Sales and Marketing, the addition of the V-10 will be “welcome news to many business and municipalities,” while providing a wider range of powertrain options and solutions than Ram, Navistar, Isuzu and Hino (to name a few) currently offer in the Class 6 and  7 truck market.

Given that it’s long been the preferred supplier of vehicles to taxi fleets, Ford has offered a Compressed Natural Gas option on its Crown Victoria for years. More recently, it has expanded the availability of CNG and LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) options to its larger commercial vehicles, namely the E-Series vans (of which it has already shipped some 3000 conversions) Transit Connect and most recently, the F-450 and F-550 Super Duty chassis cab trucks.

Hot on the heels of announcing impressive payload and towing figures for its Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra Heavy-Duty trucks; General Motors has stated that it is seriously looking to re-enter the medium duty truck market. Last year, the General exited this segment, winding down production of its Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC Topkick class 5-7 trucks, after  deals to sell the medium-duty business to Isuzu and Navistar International fell through.