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Ford F-Series truck sales earn $17B more than Tesla combined

If the F-Series pickups were a standalone company, they'd make more money than every major US sport league combined.

Money makers.

Ford

Ford's F-Series pickup trucks, which includes the F-150 and the Super Duty line, are the automaker's meal ticket and have been for decades. But just how important the pickups are to Ford is incredibly eye-opening.

Given how many headlines Tesla makes for its market valuation -- it's currently worth more than Ford, Fiat Chrysler and GM combined -- F-Series pickups alone handily make more money than Tesla entirely, according to a new Ford-commissioned study from Boston Consulting Group. Last year, Tesla reported $24.6 billion in revenue; Ford's F-Series lineup created $42 billion in revenue. 

In terms of other companies' revenue, if Ford's F-Series line was its own company, it would be larger than McDonald's US operations, Starbucks' global operations and even Nike. The F-Series also creates more money for Ford than every major US sport league combined. (In 2018, the NFL's 32 teams generated revenue of $14.48 billion, according to Statista.)

BCG also looked at how the F-Series impacts the US economy, and the results are just as impressive. The study shows the 900,000 F-Series pickups built last year directly supported 500,000 jobs in the US, in production, suppliers and dealers. And thanks to the F-Series, Ford contributes $100 billion to the US Gross Domestic Product each year, based on production and multiplier effects, such as dealer sales, after-sale service and other positive ripples.

The figures underscore why the 2021 F-150's debut is a gigantic deal for Ford, and highlights why the automaker can't afford to miss a beat like it did launching the latest Ford Explorer.

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