For the first time since 1985, Ford Motor Co.'s F-150 pickups equipped with V6 engines are outselling those with V8 engines. And Ford is struggling to keep up with demand for the V6s.
Dealers are clamoring for Ford to ramp up production of the 3.5-liter direct-injection turbocharged EcoBoost V6 engine because of its popularity.
"It's an impressive engine," says Martin Gubbels, owner of Big Sky Ford-Lincoln in Torrington, Wyo. "Now Ford just has to build enough of them."
Gubbels has sold seven F-150s with the EcoBoost V6 since March. He has one in stock but wants four.
Through Tuesday, July 19, the EcoBoost V6 engine accounted for about 41 percent of July F-150 sales in North America. The 3.7-liter naturally aspirated V6 engine accounted for 15 percent, Doug Scott, Ford's manager of truck group marketing, told Automotive News.
The two V6 engines made up 57 percent of F-150 sales in April and May, and 56 percent in June.
"We haven't been able to match the demand for EcoBoost," Scott says.
A Ford spokesman says Ford's two engine plants in Ohio are running on overtime to catch up to demand.
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