Ford’s F-Series pick-up ranks next to iPhone in revenue

Ford Motor Co has a lot riding on the overhauled F-150 pickup it's unveiling Thursday night. Rather than shy away from the stakes, the automaker has given a look under the hood of its cash-cow truck franchise.

The almost 900,000 FSeries pickups sold last year generated about $42 billion in revenue, according to a study Ford commissioned from the Boston Consulting Group. That ranks near Apple Inc's iPhone among the biggest US consumer products. On its own, FSeries is larger than

McDonald's Corp, Inc, Coca-Cola Co Starbucks Corp.

"It's the crown jewels of the business," Hau ThaiTang, Ford's product

Nike and development chief, said in an interview. The revenue figure BCG cites is almost 30 per cent of the total Ford reported for its automotive business last year. "There's no product more important for us, and when the F-150 chief engineer calls, he usually gets all the help he needs."

The F-Series line of trucks supports roughly half a million jobs and contributes $49 billion annually to US GDP, the study found. BCG computed the truck's economic impact by looking at how much employment and revenue is tied directly to Ford and indirectly to its suppliers, dealers and employees' tertiary spending.

"The F-Series stands out because it has a much higher price point than most other products," said Michael Book, a senior partner at BCG.

In the new F-150 being unveiled, the automaker will offer a much larger touch screen to counter a popular option on Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's ascendant Ram pickup models.