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The
2016 Ford F-150 Limited will go on sale later this year, and
will be a step up from the automaker's current top-of-the-line
pickup, the F-150 Platinum.
Low gasoline prices along with better fuel economy have boosted
demand for feature-laden duty trucks and large SUVs which are
helping the bottom lines for the three Detroit automakers.
One of the features that comes standard on the new F-150 Limited
will be "multicontour massaging seats."
In June, half of the new F-150 pickup trucks sold by Ford were
of its three existing premium models - Lariat, King Ranch and
Platinum. The lowest-priced Lariat is more than $40,000
including destination charges, and depending on the options
taken, a F-150 Platinum can top $60,000.
Ford has said its North American operating profit margin for
this year will be as much as 9.5 percent, largely linked to the
profits from its F-Series pickup trucks, the best-selling model
in the United States since 1982.
The average price U.S. consumers paid for fullsize pickup trucks
in the first half of this year was $42,429, nearly $10,000, or
30 percent, higher than in the first half of 2009, according to
auto industry sales website and consultant TrueCar Inc <TRUE.O>.
TrueCar found that the average price customers paid for F-150
trucks in the first half of the year was $46,573, up 8 percent
from a year earlier, compared with $38,384 for the General
Motors Co <GM.N> Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, down 2
percent from a year earlier.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' <FCAU.N> <FCHA.MI> Ram pickup trucks
sold at an average $42,256, up 6 percent from a year earlier.
The 2016 F-150 Limited will have a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 engine
with fuel economy of 17 miles per gallon in city driving, and 24
mpg on the highway.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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