The Auto Writer

Assembly line workers in Kansas City celebrate the launch of the 2009 Ford F-150, the world's best selling full-sized pickup truck for the past three decades.

There is probably no greater symbol of the struggles America’s automakers have been encountering than the big pickup truck, one of the most profitable vehicles built by Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.

For years, these trucks along with their big SUV brethren, have provided the bulk of the profits needed to sustain the Big 3 automakers, but for 2008 that segment has taken a beating in the face of unexpected high gas prices. Demand is down by hundreds of thousands of vehicles and with that big decrease has come sharp losses for their respective automakers.

Big Trucks Are Still Very Much In Demand

Yet, large trucks are still very much needed as working class professionals, outdoorsmen and families cannot imagine life without them. With heavy incentives attached, Dodge Ram, Chevrolet Silverado, Nissan Titan, Ford F-150, Toyota Tundra, and GMC Sierra trucks have sold and will continue to sell even as the big truck pie shrinks.

Both Ford and Dodge have new trucks out for the 2009 model year and yesterday Ford workers in Kansas City and Dearborn, MI had two big reasons to celebrate: the delayed F-150 was launched and Ford announced that 1000 workers would be added to the Dearborn plant as the automaker ramps up a third production shift beginning in January.

F-Series sales are down by 27% year to date and the model is, according to the Detroit Free Press, representative of a full one-quarter of Ford’s sales in North America.

New Marketing Campaign

Underscoring how important the F-150 is to Ford’s success, the company is launching a new marketing campaign that will debut this Sunday on NFL on Fox. A large print and radio campaign will follow, a marketing initiative that Ford hopes will increase demand for America’s best selling vehicle.