2024 Ford F-150 To Debut At Detroit Auto Show With New Hybrid Variant

Ford CEO Jim Farley confirmed that an updated version of the F-150 pickup will be revealed at the Detroit Auto Show this year, an event that begins on September 13. Per Automotive News, Farley made the statement at a briefing about the Blue Oval's earnings for the second quarter of 2023.

Farley specifically used the term "all-new" to describe the updated Ford F-150, but it's more of a mid-cycle facelift as the current, fourteenth-generation F-150 only went into production in 2020. Then again, he could be hinting at greater enhancements for the popular pickup than expected; a new hybrid version has already been confirmed. In general, Ford will be launching more hybrids and slowing down the rollout of EVs, much like Toyota. Mercedes, too, is reconsidering its fast-paced EV rollout in America in what is quickly developing into a greater industry trend.

"You're going to see a lot more hybrid systems from us," said Farley, according to CNBC's Michael Wayland. More hybrids will coincide with Ford slowing down the pace of EV production. Its revised expectation is 600,000 EVs produced at some point next year; previously, the automaker expected to hit that figure by the end of 2023. The goal of two million EVs annually by the end of 2026 now seems less likely, with the automaker not knowing when it will reach this number.

"The transition to EVs is happening, it just may take a little longer," said CFO John Lawler, according to CNBC. "It will be a little slower than the industry expected."

In the interim, hybrids will become more important for Ford, and the new F-150 hybrid variant will be one of them.

While technical specifications of the new F-150 hybrid were not shared, Ford did say that it is responding to the growing popularity of hybrid systems for heavier vehicles. While not a plug-in system, the company will be looking at hybrid systems where the battery can be used for tasks other than powering the vehicle's electric motor.

The 2023 F-150 is already available with the PowerBoost hybrid powertrain that pairs a 3.5-liter V6 with a hybrid system to deliver 430 horsepower and 570 lb-ft of torque. Outside of the Raptor, this mill already has the best specs in the range, so perhaps the new F-150 hybrid derivative will come in below it as a more efficient alternative to the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6.

We expect a few styling revisions - spy shots have already captured revised front-end styling - and upgraded technologies for the facelifted F-150, too, which should arrive as a 2024 model.