DETROIT MOTOR SHOW: Ford takes a gamble on diesel F-150

Ford believes Americans are ready to embrace diesel technology once again, despite the continued fallout of Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal in the US.

Announcing the introduction of a new turbo-diesel variant of the F-150 pick-up at the Detroit motor show overnight, Ford chief technical officer Raj Nair said diesel remained a viable option in markets around the world including the US.

“It’s a little bit different market, the truck market versus what’s going on in passenger, and the way the rest of the industry has approached emissions and diesel,” he said. “Hopefully that doesn’t carry through.”

Ford confirmed overnight that it would introduce a Powerstroke 3.0-litre diesel V6 to American showrooms in 2018 – the first time in the F-Series’ 70-year history it has been available with a diesel engine.

It also announced the return of the smaller Ford Ranger to the US, a vehicle that Australian engineers helped develop. Nair declined to comment on whether the Ranger would embrace diesel power, and hosed down speculation it will cannibalise F-150 sales.

“We don’t think so. We see the differentiation in the customer looking for a physical different size of vehicle, and we see this as an incremental opportunity for us based on what we see in the market right now,” he said.