There is a new one Ford F-150 Raptor from 2021, and it gets a V6 as standard. That’s the same deal as the current generation. The difference is that the new Raptor also has a Raptor R model which comes with a V8, like the original. I wondered: Did Ford turn on the Raptor’s engine because the six-cylinder was a dud?
The tricky thing here is that Ford is not taking F Series models out of F Series sales. Every year we hear that the F Series is “America’s Favorite Truck” and that it tops the sales figures, but we don’t know how many of them were F-450s instead of F-250s, or what types of F-150s everyone buys.
Annoyingly, this is standard practice in the more-is-more world of trucks. GM is doing the same by bringing together all the Chevy Silverados, from the smallest single cab to the largest 3500 and 6500 HDs, such as GM Authority listed in its sales round for 2020.
Standard exercise, Yes. Annoying, too. I didn’t have a good way to find out how the second-generation Raptor, the one with the EcoBoost V6, compares to the first-generation Raptor, the one with the standard V8. All I had to do was this 2013 Edmunds article stating that first-generation sales did well. It didn’t give hard numbers, just general percentages of Raptor sales one year versus another. What I had to do was contact Ford.
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And Ford gave me something I was looking for!
M.ike Levine from Ford PR responded quickly at my request for hard or soft numbers when selling first and second generation Raptor:
We do not separate the sale of the F-150 Raptor.
The second-generation Raptor sold more than the first.
I asked if percentages were on hand. No dice:
No sorry. We do not.
I wish I had more concrete information about Raptor sales, in terms of V6 versus V8, or in terms of how big a share of the Raptor is of all F-Series sales. But I do know that the V6 doesn’t seem to have hurt the Raptor.
It sounds like the upcoming Raptor R is more of a limited edition fanservice deal of sorts than an attempt to fix a sales image problem. To be honest, I am happy. America earns more than people counting cylinders.