Ford F-150 SVT Raptor Sales Take Off in First Year

Posted by Mike Levine

January 10, 2011

What started as a risky jump into a new off-road segment has turned into success for Ford, as sales of the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor took off in their first year and are set for another big year in 2011.

In 2010, 7,085 Raptors were sold, according to Doug Scott, Ford's truck group marketing manager.

Overall, according to another Ford source familiar with the truck, Ford has sold more than 8,400 of the 2010 Raptors since the SuperCab version went on sale in August of 2009.

The Raptor isn't your typical F-150. It's seven inches wider and features a unique long-travel suspension with triple internal bypass dampers from Fox Racing.

The Raptor’s annual sales numbers have eclipsed those of Ford’s earlier high-performance street truck, the F-150 SVT Lightning, which was sold from 1993 to 1995 and from 1999 to 2004.

“The high-volume mark for [the 2001] F-150 Lightning [was] 6,381,” Scott said. “But it’s important to realize that in 2001, the total industry was 17.5 million [in vehicles sold] and the full-size pickup segment was 2.35 million units. In 2010, the total industry was 11.8 million and the FSPU segment was 1.37 million units and we sold 7,085 F-150 SVT Raptors.”

Scott expects 2011 to be another big year for Raptor sales with the introduction of the all-new 2011 Raptor SuperCrew. The family-friendly model has four full-size doors and a starting price of $44,315. It’s powered by Ford’s new 6.2-liter V-8 engine (which debuted in the 2010 Raptor alongside the recently discontinued 5.4-liter V-8) that's rated at 411 horsepower and 434 pounds-feet of torque.

“Eighty percent of dealer orders for the 2011 Raptor are for SuperCrew models,” Scott said.

Chrysler CEO: Jeep Pickup Coming, but Don't Call it a Pickup

Posted by Mike Levine

January 11, 2011

By Patrick Olsen

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said in a roundtable discussion this morning that Jeep will introduce a “multipurpose” vehicle that will have a pickup truck-like bed in the back.


Talking about the Gladiator concept that was shown in Florida last year, Marchionne said, “I like that vehicle. I liked it the first day I saw it. There’s a better than 50 percent chance that you’ll get one. Regardless of what Ram says. They’re totally peeved off at the fact that we’re going to have anything that looks like a pickup truck with a Jeep badge on it. I actually think that there’s space for it.”


“So you just said yes to a Jeep truck?” one journalist asked. “I said [yes] to a multipurpose vehicle out of Jeep,” Sergio replied, “with something that they call a truck bed.”


Just don’t call it a Jeep pickup: “It’s an exotic within Jeep.” The reasoning behind this, according to Marchionne, is that the Ram brand is largely a North American name that has not been, in his word, internationalized. Jeep does not have that issue, hence the potential for a “multipurpose” Jeep with a pickup truck bed.

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