Ford designed the new 2021 Ford F-150 to match owners lives.

Ford hadn’t redesigned the F-150 since 2015. Why meddle with perfection right?

In the time between 2015 and now, the truck industry saw Ram make a big surge in sales, cutting into Ford’s lead at the top of the light-duty market.

With the new 2021 F-150 reveal, Ford proved they hadn’t been resting on their laurels. Real research and design was happening behind the scenes. Ford was obviously listening to buyer wants, as well as learning from the successes of their biggest truck rival Ram.

From an internal work surface for a laptop to a 4G LTE modem to an onboard generator, Ford wanted to improve on that experience.

Most “Productive” F-150 Ever

When have you ever heard of a work truck—or any vehicle for that matter—referred to as productive?

Ford makes a point of describing the 2021 as “productive.” There’s a reason they do, and it might be the new standard in judging trucks moving forward.

Ford designers actually spent time with current owners figuring out how they used their trucks. They followed them every where from camping trips to construction jobs. They took what they saw, and built a truck that would provide features making it more useful than just getting to where the driver needed to go.

2021 F-150 Gets Interior Upgrade

First things first, the new Ford has a 12-inch infotainment screen. Ram introduced the 12-inch touchscreen in the 2019 Ram 1500. It made a big impact.

Ford matched that screen size, but may have done a better job of making such a large touchscreen look like it was made to be there. Rather than going vertical, the 2021 touchscreen has a landscape orientation, making the look and feel of the interior more natural.

The fully digital cluster display can only be described as amazing.

The new 12-inch will be driven by the new SYNC 4 system, providing a higher level of tech integration with both the vehicle and smart devices.

Ford says that 50% of 2021 F-150 models will come with the 12-inch infotainment system and SYNC 4.

F-150 Goes Big on Wireless Technology

Ford realized that the ‘work’ in work trucks extends beyond torque and max payload sizes.

The business of work often times must be executed on the road. The modern connected lifestyle means conducting business wirelessly on the go.

The 4G LTE modem combined with complimentary Ford Pass makes the country’s most popular truck, also a location to connect. Fords on-board wireless system allows for up to 10 different devices to connect simultaneously.

Wireless connectively also means owners will now have access to over-the-air updates. Ford promises that updates will be quick, and more time consuming updates can be scheduled to be executed while the vehicle sits overnight.

The SYNC 4 system provides voice commands capability, so you can get directions, answer texts and change the radio station without ever taking your eyes off the road.

In terms of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the 2021 F-150 improves upon the Ram 1500’s capabilities, providing wireless accessibility for both applications.

Don’t worry that your work truck might be getting too sophisticated. The infotainment buttons and touchscreen were designed to be used with work gloves.

Driver Assist Technology as Well

2021 will mean more standard Ford Co-Pilot 360 features in every vehicle.

In addition, buyers can choose to add Pro Trailer Backup Assist, Trailer Reverse Guidance and the new CV2X technology.

With its new CV2X technology, drivers get the benefit of autonomous driving features. Ford says their autonomous driving feature will be smarter the the well-known Tesla version. The F-150’s assisted driving feature includes eye and head position sensors to warn drivers not paying attention to the road.

It will also feature automatic slowdown and stopping features to avoid accidents.

So now the stage has been set for an epic industry sales battle. Ram’s momentum had many thinking the King of the light-duty truck might see a regime change.

With the introduction of the 2021 Ford F-150, the more things change, the more they might stay the same.