Ford Reworks the 2027 F-150 With Hands-Free Towing and New Truck Editions

DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor Company is overhauling its F-150 pickup truck for the 2027 model year, changing its powertrain lineup while adding new off-road and co-branded variants.

The F-Series has been the best-selling truck line in the United States for 47 consecutive years and the best-selling overall vehicle in the country for 42 consecutive years. First introduced in 1948 with the F-1 through F-8 series, the platform is now in its 14th generation, which launched in 2021.

For the 2027 F-150, Ford is integrating hands-free towing into its BlueCruise driver-assistance system. The SAE Level 2 system uses pre-mapped GPS corridors, radar sensors, and cameras to manage steering, acceleration, and braking.

Operators will be able to take their hands off the steering wheel on more than 130,000 miles of divided highways across North America while hauling trailers weighing up to 10,000 pounds. An infrared camera system must confirm that the driver’s eyes remain focused on the road ahead.

More than 75 percent of F-150 owners routinely use their vehicles for towing, according to internal Ford data. Their loads include commercial machinery, work equipment, recreational boats, and travel trailers.

“Towing is fundamental to our customers,” said Greg Christensen, general manager of North America Trucks at Ford Motor Co. He said the engineering modifications were driven directly by real-world use spanning weekday work sites and weekend recreational transportation.

Expanding BlueCruise to accommodate 10,000-pound loads required recalibration of the truck’s dynamic stability control systems, blind-spot monitoring networks, and trailer brake integration. The move comes as Detroit automakers compete intensely over driver-assistance capabilities on full-size platforms.

Ford is also revising the F-150 powertrain matrix. A new 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 will become the standard entry-level powertrain, updating the twin-turbocharged architecture first introduced to the F-150 line in 2011.

On high-tier King Ranch and Platinum models, Ford is bringing back the naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 as standard equipment. The decision responds to sustained demand among premium truck buyers for traditional V8 displacement, alongside Ford’s high-output EcoBoost and PowerBoost hybrid configurations.

The company is expanding its specialized performance trims with lower-cost variants of the F-150 Tremor and F-150 Raptor. The Raptor line, originally introduced in 2010 under the SVT badge, established high-speed off-road performance in the factory truck sector.

The Tremor package was developed to provide intermediate trail capability between standard 4×4 models and full-scale desert racers. “We are really thinking about customers in that respect and affordability and accessibility,” Christensen said regarding the expanded trim hierarchy.

Ford is pairing those changes with its first-ever F-150 Carhartt edition. Built on the 4×4 XLT Crew Cab platform, the special edition includes custom exterior styling, Carhartt-branded interior materials, a heavy-duty spray-in bedliner, and specialized all-weather floor mats.

The collaboration brings together two historic Michigan-based entities. Carhartt was founded in 1889 in Detroit by Hamilton Carhartt to produce durable apparel for railroad workers, and its headquarters remain in Dearborn, just miles from Ford’s central engineering and manufacturing complex. Ford Motor Co. was founded in the same region in 1903.

“We couldn’t be more excited about another iconic American brand partnering with us,” Christensen said.

The F-150 package follows a broader commercial agreement launched between the companies earlier in the year for trade workers and commercial fleets. That effort included a co-developed Ford Super Duty Carhartt edition designed for vocational industries and heavy commercial utility work.

Primary assembly for the F-150 remains anchored at Ford’s historic Dearborn Truck Plant inside the Rouge Complex in Michigan, alongside the Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Missouri.