Ford teases new F-150 ahead of next week's world premiere

Ford Motor Co. is building up anticipation for the reveal next week of its next-generation F-150 pickup.

The Dearborn automaker on Friday released a teaser image on its website as part of the publicity leading up to June 25 premiere of the truck. The computer-generated image shows the darkened profile of the new F-150's front end with no features visible except for LEDs framing the grille. A disclaimer notes that the representation is of a pre-production model.

The design of the 2021 F-150, which is now in its 14th generation, will be unveiled via livestream at 8 p.m. next Thursday. Those interested in watching can sign up for a calendar reminder on Ford's website.

Although the automaker has yet to share any details of the redesigned truck, some of the new features have been leaked. Reuters, citing an anonymous source familiar with the plans, this week reported that a prominent feature of the truck will be sleeper seats that recline all the way back.

The new F-150 lineup includes plans for hybrid and fully battery-electric variants.

The F-150, along with being Ford's top-selling product and a key moneymaker, has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for more than 40 years. Last year Ford sold nearly 900,000 F-Series trucks compared to 633,694 sales of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's Ram pickup and 575,600 sales of General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Silverado.

Sales of the new truck will be key to helping Ford dig itself out of a pile of a new debt it took on to help preserve cash amid the coronavirus crisis. The launch of the next-generation model, slated for later this year, comes as the entire auto industry gets back on its feet following an eight-week production shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ford confirmed Friday it will get back to up full production capacity on Monday, two weeks earlier than planned.

Detroit's three automakers have been gradually ramping production back up since they restarted May 18, in a bid to make up for lost time and refill dealers' lagging inventories.

Ford is also preparing for the launch later this year of a hotly anticipated comeback of the Bronco SUV. Amid controversy over an original reveal date that coincided with O.J. Simpson's birthday on July 9, the automaker said Friday it had moved the premiere to July 13.

jgrzelewski@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @JGrzelewski