5 ms·

I guess this is the kind of truck you get when you don’t really need a truck but every now and then you go to IKEA and the box doesn’t fit in a sedan and so FWD

I guess this is the kind of truck you get when you don’t really need a truck but every now and then you go to IKEA and the box doesn’t fit in a sedan and so FWD is alright. I wish they had an extended cab with a longer bed though. But for the price of a Honda Fit, pretty awesome!

fred_is_fred 5y ago
If all you need a truck for is every now and then going to Ikea it would be a lot cheaper just to pay Ikea to deliver.
- microtherion 5y ago
  Or rent a car. I own a smallish car for routine needs and am a member of a car sharing service so I can rent a station wagon, minivan, or van the handful of times a year I need one.
madhadron 5y ago
The majority of working pickups are compacts way smaller than an F-150 that are part of landscaping fleets and the like. They're all FWD.
- canadianfella 5y ago
  Where?
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  I would not call any new pickup in the US from the last 10 to 15 years a compact. The smallest ones keep getting bigger and bigger in the US. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1st-vs-2nd-vs-3rd-gen-size-comparison.458693/ https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1st-vs-2nd-vs-3rd-gen-si...
chrisseaton 5y ago
> I guess this is the kind of truck you get when you don’t really need a truck Snobby.
- mywittyname 5y ago
  That's truck "enthusiasts" for you, a good proportion of them are elitists. They love to pretend that owning a truck means that one must go off-roading and tow something giant to some outdoorsy spot every weekend. Nevermind that the people who need "work trucks" buy vans a large proportion of the time because securing tools is really important for people who work out of their vehicles. Suburbanites buying trucks need space for runs to LowKEA Depot and the occasional furniture purchase. Offroading capability is limited to driving in a field/yard. This thing will tow a small trailer/boat without any issues. It's the perfect truck for most buyers, but the F150 is safe because "truck enthusiasts" will never accept this. In 15 years when fleets of these are cheaply available on the used market, we will probably see a surge of popularity from younger people for them.
  - nicbou 5y ago
    It seems like America is ready for small European passenger vans. The Renault Kangoo and its equivalents are perfect for that.
    - bozzcl 5y ago
      That and hot hatches, pretty please.
      - chrisseaton 5y ago
        Ford make tons of hatchbacks in Europe - it's their main thing they're known for - not sure why they don't sell them in the US.
        mywittyname 5y ago
        Americans love hot hatches. In fact, hot hatches were the last models to of hatches to be sold in the USA. The Fiesta ST lived on longer than the Fiesta, as did the Focus ST/RS. It's not just Ford either, VW only sells the GTI and Golf R in the USA, not the base Golf. But the compact crossover has displaced the normal hatchback in the USA. So while Europe gets the Focus hatch, the USA gets the Ecosport. This isn't really an America-only trend, but it's happening all over the world. One would think that Toyota's new Corolla Cross crossover would be a purely American offering, but it's actually offered in SE Asia and South American markets. There's not really a good reason to go with a hatchback over the crossover variant, unless you're going for performance. So companies are introducing crossover versions of their hatchbacks, which slowly cannibalize sales of the original hatch, which gets killed off.
fuzzylightbulb 5y ago
I am not a contractor but I do find myself needing to get some lumber, a few sheets of plywood, some mulch, etc. fairly often to maintain my home and/or to do small projects. This thing would be perfect for this and would be a real improvement over having to rip everything out of my wife's minivan once a week to knock out our projects. Annoyingly I cannot use the hose to spray all the dirt/sawdust/bugs out the minivan when I am done, so that somewhat limits what I am able to do with that car. It would also be pretty convenient for when I want to toss a few bikes in the back and go explore some trails with the kids without having to strap a bike rack to back of one of our existing vehicles. I think that if the penalty for owning a truck is small (by making it easy to drive and park and by having it be fairly fuel efficient as this new Ford is) then the convenience factor becomes really compelling, even if you don't "need" a truck all the time per se. Even if you only needed to use the bed once a week, so long as the form-factor isn't a cost the other 6 days I would think this would be a pretty solid thing to have at your disposal. In a similar vein, most people don't "need" seating for 5 in their daily driver sedan but it is simpler to just have that extra space available at all times for the twice a week that you put the whole family in and go to a restaurant.

fred_is_fred 5y ago

If all you need a truck for is every now and then going to Ikea it would be a lot cheaper just to pay Ikea to deliver.

microtherion 5y ago
Or rent a car. I own a smallish car for routine needs and am a member of a car sharing service so I can rent a station wagon, minivan, or van the handful of times a year I need one.

madhadron 5y ago

The majority of working pickups are compacts way smaller than an F-150 that are part of landscaping fleets and the like. They're all FWD.

canadianfella 5y ago
Where?
lotsofpulp 5y ago
I would not call any new pickup in the US from the last 10 to 15 years a compact. The smallest ones keep getting bigger and bigger in the US. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1st-vs-2nd-vs-3rd-gen-size-comparison.458693/ https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1st-vs-2nd-vs-3rd-gen-si...

chrisseaton 5y ago

> I guess this is the kind of truck you get when you don’t really need a truck Snobby.

mywittyname 5y ago
That's truck "enthusiasts" for you, a good proportion of them are elitists. They love to pretend that owning a truck means that one must go off-roading and tow something giant to some outdoorsy spot every weekend. Nevermind that the people who need "work trucks" buy vans a large proportion of the time because securing tools is really important for people who work out of their vehicles. Suburbanites buying trucks need space for runs to LowKEA Depot and the occasional furniture purchase. Offroading capability is limited to driving in a field/yard. This thing will tow a small trailer/boat without any issues. It's the perfect truck for most buyers, but the F150 is safe because "truck enthusiasts" will never accept this. In 15 years when fleets of these are cheaply available on the used market, we will probably see a surge of popularity from younger people for them.
- nicbou 5y ago
  It seems like America is ready for small European passenger vans. The Renault Kangoo and its equivalents are perfect for that.
  - bozzcl 5y ago
    That and hot hatches, pretty please.
    - chrisseaton 5y ago
      Ford make tons of hatchbacks in Europe - it's their main thing they're known for - not sure why they don't sell them in the US.
      - mywittyname 5y ago
        Americans love hot hatches. In fact, hot hatches were the last models to of hatches to be sold in the USA. The Fiesta ST lived on longer than the Fiesta, as did the Focus ST/RS. It's not just Ford either, VW only sells the GTI and Golf R in the USA, not the base Golf. But the compact crossover has displaced the normal hatchback in the USA. So while Europe gets the Focus hatch, the USA gets the Ecosport. This isn't really an America-only trend, but it's happening all over the world. One would think that Toyota's new Corolla Cross crossover would be a purely American offering, but it's actually offered in SE Asia and South American markets. There's not really a good reason to go with a hatchback over the crossover variant, unless you're going for performance. So companies are introducing crossover versions of their hatchbacks, which slowly cannibalize sales of the original hatch, which gets killed off.

fuzzylightbulb 5y ago

I am not a contractor but I do find myself needing to get some lumber, a few sheets of plywood, some mulch, etc. fairly often to maintain my home and/or to do small projects. This thing would be perfect for this and would be a real improvement over having to rip everything out of my wife's minivan once a week to knock out our projects. Annoyingly I cannot use the hose to spray all the dirt/sawdust/bugs out the minivan when I am done, so that somewhat limits what I am able to do with that car. It would also be pretty convenient for when I want to toss a few bikes in the back and go explore some trails with the kids without having to strap a bike rack to back of one of our existing vehicles. I think that if the penalty for owning a truck is small (by making it easy to drive and park and by having it be fairly fuel efficient as this new Ford is) then the convenience factor becomes really compelling, even if you don't "need" a truck all the time per se. Even if you only needed to use the bed once a week, so long as the form-factor isn't a cost the other 6 days I would think this would be a pretty solid thing to have at your disposal. In a similar vein, most people don't "need" seating for 5 in their daily driver sedan but it is simpler to just have that extra space available at all times for the twice a week that you put the whole family in and go to a restaurant.