Ford to build smaller, lighter pickup off next F-Series platform

Ford has been talking for months now about reducing the size and weight of its vehicles as one means to reducing fuel consumption. One of the keys to cranking up the average fuel economy of its fleet will obviously have to be the highest-volume vehicle they build, the F-Series pickup trucks. With the compact Ranger languishing without updates for what seems like decades, Ford has apparently decided to build a new, smaller pickup derived from the next generation of it's F-Series platform.

Our buddy Mike Levine at PickupTrucks.com has been interrogating his sources and come up with what he believes are the plans for a new F-100 pickup. The new F-150 is debuting from Ford this year and the next iteration will arrive in 2012. The F-100 should actually predate that one by a year, arriving in 2011. The 2009 F-150 already makes extensive use high-strength steel and that is expected to expand dramatically, allowing the use of thinner-gauge steels without sacrificing structural integrity. The F-100 will also be physically smaller than the F-150.

Under the hood, the F-100 will also smaller engines like the 3.5L EcoBoost V-6 being the primary engine, with the 4.6L V-8 likely to be biggest engine if it's used at all. The upcoming 4.4L V-8 diesel is also a possibility.