Ford Cutting Back on V8 Production

May 3, 2019

News out of Ford’s Windsor, Ontario, engine plant is that the automaker is cutting a production shift of the eight-cylinder.

News out of Ford’s Windsor, Ontario, engine plant is that the automaker is cutting a production shift of the eight-cylinder.

Automotive News reported that this decision was based on less demand for the 5.0-liter V8. A union representatives told AN that the company is offering a wider variety of smaller-displacement engines like 2.7 L, 3.3 L, 3.5 L. Ford truck buyers still have the 5.0 L V8 option.

Ford said the change won’t result in layoffs at the Ontario plant.

“All employees affected by the shift reduction will have the opportunity to move to Windsor Engine Plant Annex to support 7.3-litre engine production,” Ford Canada spokesman Matthew Drennan-Scace told AN.

It was just a couple years ago in 2017 that Ford dropped the V8 options in its off-road performance F-150 Raptor for a lighter twin-turbo V6.

More broadly, late model F-150s have been offered with smaller engine options amid pressures for higher fuel economy and output gains in those options.

In praising Ford’s 2.7 L EcoBoost in 2018, Ward’s Auto pointed out that the V6 makes comparable horsepower to its V8 predecessors.

Ford currently advertises five gasoline engine offerings for the F-150. Just one, the 5.0, is a V8.