50 Years of ITOY – 2019 FORD F-MAX

2019’s IToY was a remarkable event for a number of reasons. Firstly, the award was presented at the 2018 IAA, which was also the first public unveiling of the winning truck, secondly it was the first winner to be built outside of Europe (in Eskişehir, Türkiye) and thirdly it was the first time that a winner was drawn from outside Europe’s big seven manufacturers in 37 years.

Coincidentally, it was also Ford that broke the oligopoly way back in 1982 with the original Cargo. The Ford Trucks of 2019 was a very different business to that of the early 1980s though, and the intervening years had seen the disposal of the European heavy truck business to Iveco in 1986, the American business acquired by Daimler’s Freightliner division in 1997, and the abandonment of the South American heavy truck market in 2019.

Today, Ford Trucks is a brand name of the Ford Otosan Company, which is a joint venture between Ford and Koç Holdings, and which began assembling Ford Thames Trader trucks in Türkiye in 1961.

Although Ford Otosan’s Cargo vehicles had featured on IToY shortlists a couple of times, to achieve success for the all-new F-Max, selected journalists and jurors were invited to a restricted preview and road-testing session in the summer of 2018. They returned sufficiently impressed with the new truck to announce it the 2019 IToY at Hanover that September. Securing 126 votes, the Ford was followed by the Scania L- and P-series in second place with 74 votes, and the gas-powered Volvo FH/FM in third on 56 votes.

For a market-disruptor to win the IToY with a brand-new model was a significant achievement and this was heightened further by the F-Max using both a cab and an engine which were designed and produced in-house.

The 12.7-litre Ecotorq straight-six engine featured high-pressure common-rail injection with overhead camshaft and variable geometry turbocharging, and achieved Euro-6 accreditation with a combination of SCR, EGR and DPF. The standard transmission was the 12-speed ZF TraXon automated system.

Whist Henry Ford famously proclaimed that buyers of the Model T could have any colour they liked as long as it was black, the F-Max was launched with 25 different cab colour options, but Henry’s prescription held true on other aspects of the truck’s specification.

Buyers could have any engine they wished provided it was the 500hp Ecotorq, and any cab provided it was the high-roof sleeper. Not that the one-size-fits-all cab presented any hardship – with a flat-floor, width of 2.5m, internal height of 2.16m and plenty of storage capacity it offered a comfortable and user-friendly working environment.

Ford yielded on its single wheelbase length of 3.6m with the introduction of the 3.75m F-Max L in 2021, which enabled up to 1,350 litres of fuel capacity. Since its introduction, the F-Max has proven a popular and cost-effective alternative to the established marques, particularly in Eastern and Southern Europe. Inroads have also been made in North West Europe, but not in Great Britain due to the absence of right-hand steering and a 6x2 configuration.