Ford F-150: An Illustration of Leadership

On Thursday, June 25, Ford Motor Company will reveal an all-new version of perhaps the most important vehicle in the world: The full-size F-150 pickup truck. A new F-150 from Ford is a moment, as the Blue Oval’s big truck has long been what Michelangelo’s David is to statues or Pat’s is to Philly cheesesteaks: the genre’s best example. It is a six-time Kelley Blue Book Best Buy winner and for a lifetime it’s been the market’s undisputed sales champion. 

To be a sales success, you need a top reputation with consumers, particularly in the key attributes and factors that mean the most to buyers. To visualize exactly what that means, and to showcase just how dominant the Ford full-size pickup truck is within its segment, we asked the Kelley Blue Book research team to pull the latest data from the Q1 2020 Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch Report.

Vanessa Ton, senior industry intelligence manager at Kelley Blue Book, notes, “Without a doubt, the F-Series, and specifically the F-150, is the segment leader in consideration and in key attributes that matter most to truck buyers – Safety, Driving Comfort and Performance. Ford is well above average in every category, near the top in most. That’s the definition of a dominant product.”

In the Factor Rating Profile, Ford’s full-size is the top performer in 5 of the 12 categories. It is particularly strong in the most-important factors, those toward the left-hand side of the chart. (Note: Reliability is the #1 attribute for full size truck buyers. Safety is #2, etc. Prestige / Sophistication is the least-important measured factor.) Worth noting, the much publicized Cybertruck from Tesla has already claimed top-spot in 3 key factors, although in factors that matter less to truck buyers. Cybertruck scores poorly in the more important factors. 

Scoring well in the factors and attributes that mean the most to shoppers helps with consideration. And indeed, in Q1, the Ford F-150 was the most considered pickup truck by a wide margin. The larger Super Duty from Ford was the fourth-most considered full-size truck. Combined, the Ford F-Series won the sales race in Q1. It was America’s best-selling vehicle, again. Hardly a surprise.