Ford fans - why does the front of the new F-150 only come in unfinished black plastic?

I saw one of those the other day and I assumed it had gotten into an accident and the new grill wasn't painted yet.

It looks unfinished and cheap. And I'm sure the MSRP on those trucks are in the $50K-$60K range at least.

Just wish they would ditch the stupid chin spoiler that gives it 3" of ground clearance, Ford is not alone in this offense

Probably nickle and dime weight saving wrt overall weight and quick assembly, since they usually snap or clip in.

I thought these were “short builds” due to supplier issues. That’s why they look unfinished.

Didn’t know they were supposed to look like that.

Very poor quality on Ford’s part. If they are supposed to look like that, they made a bad design choice. It looks cheap.

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The American consumer is not that smart.

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This cannot be said enough.

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painted gloss on the lariat and platinum black appearance package

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Not a fan of the black wheels but that grill doesn’t look as bad to me as the other ones in the OP.

It does look cheaper than a body colored grill or a chrome accented grill. I do like the headlights even though they look like they’d be expensive to replace.

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Just wish they would ditch the stupid chin spoiler that gives it 3" of ground clearance,

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It helps with aerodynamics because the underside of pickup trucks have a lot of unfinished/exposed components that catch the wind. And they would be expensive to cover in composite panels to make them smooth - although that trend is starting to happen too.

I agree that it’s another added costs that consumers didn’t ask for. If they made it optional, I am confident that only the “old man spec” trucks or the fleet models would buy them. They only make sense if the truck spends most of the time on the highway.

Not a fan of the new F-150. The changes Ford did here seem to benefit Ford and the federal government more than the consumer. I don’t see a reason to buy one unless your current vehicle is on its last legs. Same with the new Tundra.

I’m annoyed that the Ram is ditching the Hemi V8 but if they had to, I appreciate that they went with an I-6 layout over a V6. The Hurricane motor does seem to be very well thought out….but clearly more complex and more expensive than what consumers asked for.

Kudos to GM and Ford for still offering V8’s. I really like the Silverado right now with the diesel too. None of the gas turbo model full sized trucks appeal to me. And as good as the new GM TurboMax motor is, it does annoy me that the you can’t even get a full sized truck with a gas 4 banger. Not as concerned with that on the mid sized trucks.

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The old Dodge 318 was a boat anchor, although it was very reliable.

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That's what my 2001 Ram 1500 had in it, and it would go. Of course I had the 2WD standard cab with the short bed. I think they had the same motor in the extended cabs and long bed option. There was a larger V8 offered as well. It was a decent motor for the time. They also had a V10 option. But for an old school 2 door pickup, it was plenty of power.

It is all about weight reduction. These companies have to incrementally reduce weight to meet the next round of emission standards (which go into effect in 2027).