Ford (NYSE:F) Needs to do More to be the Number 1 in Fuel Efficiency

The stage was again held at San Antonio for the Green Truck of the Year (2015) and this time around beating the hot favorite Ford’s F-150, Fiat Chrysler’s (NYSE:FCAU) Ram 1500 Eco Diesel won the Green Truck of the year award. As always, there was a great enthusiasm among the manufacturers to produce the most fuel efficient pickups. Auto manufacturers from all around the globe gathered to showcase their best creations in terms of fuel efficiency.

Amongst the numerous competitors, the three most competitive rivals came out to be Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU), General Motor Company (NYSE:GM) and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F). F-150 with its beautiful aluminum-body by Ford (NYSE:F) appeared to be a favorite but given the non-availability of data regarding its mpg rating, it lost the competition. It was the Ram pickup by Fiat (NYSE:FCAU) which collected the award for Green Truck of the Year 2015.

The new Green Truck of the Year features an eight-speed automatic transmission and has a built-in system that reduces drag at a high pace. Moreover, its mpg rating is a staggering 28mpg. The initial model of F-150 had a steel body which gave an extra weight of 700 pounds (bulk enough to drop its highway pace significantly). Ford (NYSE:F) invested heavily to developed an aluminum body for F-150 which decreased the bulk up to 700 pounds resulting in a significant increase in its performance.

With the new aluminum body, it was expected that the mileage of the F-150 would increase at least 5% or perhaps more compared to the departing pickup models. Nonetheless, here is the twist that the new 2.7 liter Eco Boost V-6 that will be out in the market with the F-150 will be able to catch up the mileage rating of the Ram Eco Diesel only if the mileage improves by no less than 20%. This can turn out to be a nightmare for Ford (NYSE:F).

Ford has spent an enormous amount of money on developing the aluminum-bodied trucks and did everything to ensure that its trucks rank as the number one in efficiency. Thus, anything less than that would be considered a defeat by Ford. Besides revealing other statistics, Automotive News has also reported that within an eighteen months’ time period, Ford will unveil a 10-speed automatic transmission. But if Ram continues with the same model without introducing any improvements which is, ofcourse, very unlikely, Ford (NYSE:F) might catch up the top ranking.

However, luckily for Ford (NYSE:F), the nose-diving fuel prices can make up an affirmative case for the company. With the cost of a single gallon of gasoline amounting to only $3 or less, the U.S. drivers are less likely to bother themselves considering fuel economy when considering a truck. Thus, although Ford might not get the top ranking in fuel economy; but this fall in gasoline prices might help Ford not to get hurt too badly by this.