Microsoft Dynamics has a Ford Truck problem

A few years back, Ford was under pressure to improve their fuel economy. The Ford F150 pickup truck was, and continues to be, the best-selling vehicle, car or truck, in the United States. For years, owners would periodically upgrade their truck to the newest F150 with the next generation V-8 engine under the hood and give no thought to competing trucks. But it's hard to improve fuel economy when your flagship product is a steel beast being pulled along by 8 cylinders. It also didn't help that there were world class competitors like Chevy and RAM waiting to pounce on every little mistake. Still, the world was changing.

Ford's answer was to switch to an aluminum body on a steel frame, significantly reducing weight, and to move to turbocharged four and six-cylinder engines and away from V-8s. In 2018, there is only one V-8 left in Ford's line up and there are persistent rumors that it's going away.

The big key here is that Ford managed to avoid the big mistake. They didn't build a whole new truck with a new name. They didn't put out underpowered engines. They didn't build a maintenance nightmare. Most important, they also didn't get rid of the V-8. Ford needed to prove that the F150 with new engines and bodies could still get the job done and be reliable. Getting that wrong would have been disastrous.

A scenario like this is a problem for companies because it breaks the automatic upgrade cycle. It gives customers a reason to defer purchases or, even worse, consider the competition. In Ford's case, the V-8 gave them a way to continue ...