When did Ford stop making big rigs?
Ford stopped producing traditional large-class 8 heavy-haul tractors in the United States during the late 1990s.
To understand what that means, it helps to review Ford’s long-running heavy-truck history—from the Louisville/L-Series era that served as Ford’s flagship Class 8 tractor to the later F-650/F-750 models produced under a Navistar collaboration, and how the brand’s heavy-truck program evolved in the 21st century.
Historical timeline of Ford heavy trucks
The following milestones outline the major shifts in Ford's big-rig production and help explain why the era ended when it did.
- The Louisville/L-Series era ends in the late 1990s, marking the decline of Ford’s traditional Class 8 on-highway tractors under its own badge.
- Ford later partnered with Navistar to offer the F-650 and F-750, expanding Ford’s heavy- and medium-duty lineup through a joint venture beginning in the 2000s.
- The Ford-branded F-650/F-750 line is eventually discontinued in the late 2010s to around 2020, leaving Ford without a dedicated new heavy-duty tractor offering in the U.S.
In summary, Ford’s big-rig production effectively wound down in the late 1990s, with a subsequent but limited presence in heavy-duty trucks through a Navistar partnership into the 2010s, before a full discontinuation of that line in the late 2010s/early 2020s.
What happened after
As of today, Ford does not manufacture new traditional Class 8 highway tractors under the Ford badge in the United States. The company concentrates on light- and medium-duty commercial vehicles, while buyers of large tractors often turn to other manufacturers or to legacy-used Ford models rather than new Ford-branded big rigs.
Summary
Ford’s big-rig era largely ended in the late 1990s with the conclusion of the Louisville/L-Series trucks. A later foray into heavy-duty lines (notably the F-650/F-750 via a Navistar partnership) extended Ford’s footprint into the 2010s, but production of new Ford-branded heavy-duty tractors ceased by the end of that decade, leaving Ford without a current large-class tractor offering.
