Here's a closer look at Ford's F-series pickup trucks — the most popular vehicles in the US (F)

Ford is basically printing money with the redesigned F-Series.
The carmaker could sell nearly a million of the vehicle in 2017.
It's been the bestselling vehicle in the US for decades.

There's no shortage of pickup-truck choices in the US, but when most people think "pickup," one vehicle comes to mind: the Ford F-150.

The F-150 is part of Ford's F-Series, consisting also of the F-250, F-350, and F-450 Super Duty pickups; and there's a high-performance variant of the F-150, the Raptor.

The first F-Series arrived back in 1948 and was basically a work truck. Ever since the early 1980s, the F-150 hasn't just been popular — it's been America's bestselling vehicle every single year.

Now in its 13th generation, the F-Series went through major redesigns in 2015 and 2016. The F-150 went first, getting new, lightweight aluminum construction; the Super Duty followed, it's first major reworking in decades.

At Ford, there is no product that's more central to the business than the F-Series, so the redesign was a major risk. But it has paid off: Ford posted robust third-quarter earnings this week, and the F-Series led the way, with an average transaction price of $45,500, an increase of more than $3,000 from last year.

The truck is going to bring a ridiculous amount of cash into Ford's already cash-rich coffers; CFO Bob Shanks told Business Insider in an interview that the carmaker expected another year in 2017 with a US sales pace of over 17 million vehicles. Nearly a million could be F-Series.

We've reviewed several F-Series over the years, so here's a closer look at the king of pickups.

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We sampled the new F-150, aluminum edition, back in 2015. You can get the base XL, an old-school work truck, for under $30,000.

Read the review.

Here's the thing about Ford pickups: the profit margins are almost stupid. We're talking over $10,000 on average, and given that many owners choose costly trim levels and option up their trucks, the F-Series functions like a license to print money for Ford.

There was some concern initially that the aluminum construction wouldn't be Ford tough, but truck owners appear to pretty satisfied.

In 2017, Ford even rolled out a "pursuit rated" police version of the F-150.

Check it out.

The new truck can hit 100 mph, with its turbocharged V6 serving up 375 horsepower and 470 lb.-ft. of torque – "more than any other pursuit-rated police vehicle," Ford said in a statement when the vehicle was revealed in 2017.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider