Ford to Bring F-150 Pickup to China

Ford Motor Co. will begin selling the F-150 Raptor off-road pickup next year in China, marking the first time the company has offered a pickup truck in the country.

Ford will display the four-wheel-drive vehicle next week at the Beijing auto show. U.S. sales are to begin later this year.

Initially, China will get only the four-door SuperCrew version of the Raptor. The vehicle will be identical to the ones sold in the U.S. and sourced from the same plant in Dearborn, Mich.

Power comes from a high output version of Ford’s 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6. Ford says the new V-6—a Raptor exclusive—is more powerful than the current Raptor’s 6.2-liter V-8 that generates 411 hp and 434 lb-ft of torque.

The engine will be mated with a new 10-speed automatic transmission. The four-wheel-drive system features a torque-on-demand transfer case.

As in the U.S., the Chinese Raptor is aimed at off-road enthusiasts. Although Ford says the segment is growing in China, it expects sales of the Raptor there to be relatively low at first.

Overall, Ford says it will offer its 2017 F-150 lineup in 96 markets around the world. The F-Series truck has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for 34 years.