GM marketing boss not concerned with Ford EcoBoost success

Commanding over 40 percent of the 2011 F-150 pickup's sales, Ford is making huge waves on both the sales floor and in the garages of the truck-buying and trailer-towing masses with its EcoBoost-powered models. Having driven several examples of the turbocharged and direct-injected V6, it's easy to see why – excellent performance and good fuel economy go hand-in-hand with refinement and a price that's rather easy to swallow.

So, is General Motors worried that it doesn't have a competing technology in its full-size pickups? Not according to Chris Perry, Vice President of Global Marketing for Chevrolet. In a new Ward's Auto article, Perry claims that GM can beat the F-150's fuel mileage performance with the suite of technologies in The General's arsenal when the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra are given their next major redesigns.

"(Ford has) done a good job of marketing the EcoBoost, and that's a challenge on our side to make sure that consumers understand you can get similar mpg out of a V8 Silverado without sacrifice," Perry says. "Without sacrifice" isn't really a sentiment we can agree with, however. In point of fact, the V8 engine GM offers that posts fuel mileage figures close to the EcoBoost's is the 5.3-liter V8, and that engine's power levels (315 horsepower and 335 pound-feet of torque) pale in comparison to the 365 horsepower and 420 lb-ft delivered by the Ford.

In any case, we look forward to 2013, which is when GM is expected to roll out its next-generation full-size trucks. We fully expect to see advancements in both fuel efficiency and power, with turbocharged engines, eight-speed transmissions and even hybrids on the menu. Of course, we don't exactly expect Ford to sit on its britches 'till then, either...