Ford's Raptor Pit

Podcast Episode: 0116
Can Ford keep its Pit safe from the new wave of competition?

      Ford's Raptor offerings have come a long way, but can they hold their ground when it comes to new competition.  With RAM getting into the game, could this mean the game is over for the Raptor's? Can they hold off the impeding doom of the T-Rex and competition from China?  AutoLooks takes a look at this and more.....

      Back in the 90’s and early 2000’s, it seemed that street racing was on the rise and with the release of “The Fast and Furious”, this seemed to be true.  But with a rise in illegal street racing, soon enough governments everywhere were out to stop at nothing to curb this rise.  Eventually the police and governments won the day and soon the fun was over.  The fun of the street truck market that is.

       Enter the late 2000’s and the rise of a need to go fast.  That need along with the rise in Asian and Middle Eastern markets, set the stage for a new type of sport truck.  The streets were under siege from enforcement officers, so what could a company do.  Ford saw the light at the end of the tunnel and soon enough put its Special Vehicles Team (SVT) to work on a new performance truck.  This time it wouldn’t be just about track speed, but off-road ability as well.

      From its humble beginnings, the Raptor has served as a catalyst into the off road, Baja inspired marketplace.  With only Mopar going after the original iteration, the Raptor was king of the global off-road marketplace.  Soon enough companies like Brabus, Lingenfelter, Hennessey and Yenko were stepping in for the big auto makers who weren’t.  This soon raised eyebrows at Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, and RAM, as they set out to build their own Baja inspired off roaders.​

     Mercedes AMG division hit the ground running with their 6X6, as both Nissan and RAM waited the market out.  But before long, this market was just too great not to get into and in 2021, RAM released their long-awaited Rebel TRX.  Nissan still has no interest in this market, but it seems that this has raised eyebrows at General Motors.

    Today to the full time, Baja inspired off road market is heating up with more competition coming on board.  But today its not just the F150 Raptor that’s in the game.  Today Ford has a Raptor Pit ready to fight back.  Let’s just hope they can.

Everett J.
​#autolooks