DATE: Wednesday, September 24, 1997         TAG: 9709240466

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY AKWELI PARKER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   78 lines

6 MILLIONTH VEHICLE ROLLS OUT POPULARITY OF FORD'S F-SERIES TRUCK HAS NORFOLK PLANT WORKING AT CAPACITY

Pickup owners revel in the ability to throw the couch, the dresser - their worldly possessions, if need be - and take them anywhere. But the rest of the time that's traditionally meant driving around in a big, uncomfortable, boxy thing with a lousy ride.

Last year Ford's truck assembly plant in the Campostella section of Norfolk was the first to produce the company's challenge to that dilemma - the redesigned, almost car-like F-series trucks.

With an address by Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim, the plant yesterday rolled out its 6 millionth vehicle, an F-150. Even before the F-series' facelift, the nameplate was the top-selling vehicle - car or truck - in the country.

Thanks to a booming economy and the growing notion that pickups aren't just for guys named Bubba anymore, the high-profit vehicle's popularity continues.

The pickup ``is becoming more car-like,'' said George Hoffer, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor who follows the auto industry.

As trucks are made with smoother rides and more room, consumers have to make fewer compromises, Hoffer said.

Realizing this, Ford last year messed with the success of its old, boxy F-series, which had outsold every vehicle in America 14 years running.

The Norfolk plant launched the reworked pickups, which feature swoopy, rounded edges and interior creature comforts that flew in the face of the model's previous dirty fingernails image.

The gamble paid off.

``I really like the new design,'' said Robert Ralph, a Norfolk pipefitter and the Cavalier Ford customer who ordered No. 6 million on Aug. 5.

In addition to the new truck - a black F-150 in top-of-the-line ``Lariat'' trim level - Ralph said he has a 1990 Ford pickup that's racked up 224,000 miles.

Said Ralph of the new model, ``I think it's a nice-looking truck.''

If overtime at the Norfolk plant is any indication, other customers agree. Although the F-series truck gets about 15 miles to the gallon and costs between $16,000 and $28,000, Ford dealers can't keep them in stock.

Keeping pace with demand, fueled by low interest rates and moderate gas prices, has been a chore at the Norfolk plant.

``We're working max overtime,'' said human resources manager John Bartek.

That includes two 10-hour shifts and at least six Saturdays before the model year is out, Bartek said.

In the plant's body shop, robots loom over a line of truck chassis like giant storks - welding with their beaks in quick, precise movements that belie their size.

Robots do the majority of the welds and automation abounds, but management attributes the plant's success to its 2,392 workers - 2,223 hourly and 160 salaried.

Quality Control Manager Warren S. Ford bragged that it's ``probably the finest work force anywhere,'' as far as workers being sticklers for quality and accepting the pressure to raise output.

But can that pressure get to be too much?

``I think it's great,'' said John Shepherd, an electrician who has worked at the plant for 21 years. ``It's a good problem to have, I guess.''

The company attributes much of the nameplate's success to quality.

J.D. Power and Associates ranked the F-series as the best full-size pickup in its 1997 Initial Quality Study.

Local United Auto Workers Local 919 president Jimmy Carroll said worker empowerment is the reason for the honor.

``We've created a climate in which everyone can feel free to take a part,'' Carroll said during the official roll-out ceremony of customer Ralph's truck.

At headquarters in Detroit, the brass is pleased: the company had record second-quarter results in large measure because of brisk truck sales. Combined car and truck sales were 1,879,000 units, up 69,000 from the year previous.

Ford dominates the market for full-sized pickups, but competitors aren't just sitting at home pouting.

Both Chevy and Toyota will unveil their revamped full-sized pickup offerings and presumably make the segment more price-competitive.

``A year from now, things will get tougher,'' said Hoffer. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot

No. 6 million was an F-150 pickup bought by front-seat passenger

Robert Ralph, a pipefitter.

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