I Think Ford Might Lose The Battle

[Big Blue]

No offense, but speaking from first-hand experience of owning both a Raptor and TRX, Ford already lost.

 

[G-Train]

This is factually incorrect. You can be in one at sticker within a week or three.

Also.

View attachment 321139
*Lose

Leave him be bambi, he likes it loose.

 

[GordoJay]

No offense, but speaking from first-hand experience of owning both a Raptor and TRX, Ford already lost.

In some ways, yes. But we never defined "battle". Who's fighting? That's easy, Ford and Stellantis. What are they fighting over? Market share. Which market? That gets harder. If you just compare Raptor sales to TRX sales, TRX is way ahead. But the role of a halo vehicle is to lend cred to the bread-and-butter line. So who is selling more pickups, RAM or Ford? Or are we talking about drag racing at stop lights? TRX wins. Are we running deep into the desert? Raptor wins. What's funny about the online arguments is that everyone defines the battle differently and then argues their point of view. No wonder the arguments go on for hundreds of pages ...

 

[G-Train]

I love the competition and the ability to tell any Mfr I am going elsewhere. Really don’t care which is better since we are talking small percentages when we are talking about Ford or Stellantis products.
the TRX doesn’t appeal to me and I look at that new tundra and I think it just looks like a fat Tacoma but my dealership doesn’t know that so I can pit them all against teach other.

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

The Raptor/TRX war will always wage on. It’s a fun argument that can be made to make one better than the other. I will always appreciate the time I had in my Raptor, it was a nice truck. At the end of the day, while the Raptor did a couple things better, I went back to my roots and bought a Ram. As a TRX owner I acknowledge the fuel economy is horrible and that the truck is a fat and heavy bastard. If I lived somewhere that would allow me to do a lot of desert running I’d have stuck to the Raptor because it’s lighter weight and fuel economy. That said, I’m in Western Montana where we just have a lot of forrest service roads. The TRX is the better truck for me, but it doesn’t make it the better truck overall.

 

[dirtfarm]

I also canceled my GEN 3 raptor and ordered a 2022 TRX. Loved my two raptors but the TRX was to tempting to pass up.

 

[fts]

I also canceled my GEN 3 raptor and ordered a 2022 TRX. Loved my two raptors but the TRX was to tempting to pass up.

This is the battle I am talking about. Any manufacturer that feels too comfortable with its current position in the marketplace eventually falls.

I developed a new level of appreciation for Ford during 2021, particularly when it comes to overcoming challenges, product innovation, technology innovation, etc. Not many companies are at Ford's level IMHO. I want to see this amazing American company thrive against all competition, I want to see that for all American companies. Nationalistic or not, this is how I feel.

However, I do think dealers trying to make a quick buck on these new Ford products are doing a disservice to Ford and cutting down the branch they enjoy sitting on today.

Eventually, again IHMO, direct-to-consumer model will win, and I think Ford will find a way to do that in spite of dealer unions, lobbyists, etc. What is happening in the TRX/Raptor market is not self-contained, it is expanding to other models and markets. I am sure Ford is more than aware and is planning on how to compete.

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Unfortunately, V8's are a going the way of the dinosaur, you guys with your TRX's should baby them, will probably be worth some money one day, or be completely worthless in the future. Auto companies will all be a changing very soon, quicker than we want it probably. We will see if Ford makes a V8 Raptor again or not as the pressure from regulators is increasing. If they do, it will be limited and priced high, only the elite will get one. Ford is putting it's engineering into Hybrid and fully electric because that is the future or present really. This is the "war" not the "battle" that Ford is winning hands down over Dodge.

 

[LouK]

A few things to consider are the build quality (reason for discounts I've learned first hand). My 2020 2500 Laramie was 16k off MSRP in Glendale but that was dealer incentives added one. Hard to explain but I'm guessing the thinner metal in the body/bed components on RAM saves some coin and it makes crazier deals possible. It seems that way and maybe your right but the TRX is V1 of it, 2 people who I know got them sold them already. It will be super interesting to see how many units move vs customer lifetime value / retention.

We have a friend who just traded his 2019 gen 2 for a TRX and he has nothing but rave reviews for quality on it so far. In the past few years at least on the new 1500 the quality has definitely been an upgrade. The wife wants nothing to do with the TRX but i would be lying if i said that if that wasn't the case we would have picked one of those up and then gotten a gen 3 when the hype died down and we could actually get one built in a timely manner. He placed his order after us and has been driving it for a few weeks now.. I am still waiting on a build date.

 

[zapp]

The TRX is the best thing that happened to Raptor Fans since a long time.
Without the TRX, there would have never been a Raptor R and most probably lazy Ford wouldn't have introduced the Gen3 Raptor in 2021 at all..

Now please Dodge, release a short Cab version of the TRX so Ford will finally give us a Gen3 SCAB..