Ford Aluminum F-150 Glides Off The Line Into The Marketplace

It would ignore years of strategizing, research and development — and 10 million miles of test-drives — to categorize Ford’s wager on its spanking new F-150 pickup trucks as a roll of the die-cast aluminum. But as the first new vehicles emerged yesterday, auto pundits were wondering if the world is ready for them. And, by the way, the recent steep decline in gas prices won’t help propel sales of the fuel-efficient vehicles.

“Shortly before 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, Dearborn Truck Plant Manager Brad Huff and UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles drove the first 2015 F-150 pickup — painted cherry red — off the assembly line and into history,” Michael Martinez reports in the Detroit News. The new truck “marks a significant milestone for the Dearborn automaker and is a potential game-changer for the industry,” he writes.

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But it’s also Ford’s “biggest bet in decades: an aluminum-sided F-150 that could set a new industry standard — or cost the company its pickup truck crown,” according to the lede on a fully equipped Associated Press story by Dee-Ann Durbin.

CEO Mark Fields tells Durbin that after 10 million miles of testing — “more than any other vehicle in Ford's history” — he is confident Ford made the right decision when “top managers agreed unanimously to switch to aluminum at a meeting in 2012.”

“Were we recognizing that it was a risk? Sure,” Fields says. “But it was a very calculated and informed risk that gave us the confidence that we were going to get this done.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s website features a 17-shot photo gallery of Ford F-150 trucks being assembled at the Rouge Truck Plant in Dearborn, Mich. “Aluminum — which is lighter than steel but just as strong — isn't new to the auto industry, but this is the first time it will cover the entire body of such a high-volume vehicle,” it points out.

“Aluminum versions of the F-150 will be as many as 750 pounds lighter than comparable steel-body versions of the current 2014 truck, depending on trim levels, the company has said,” writesAutomotive News’ Bradford Wernle. “Ford is counting on the F-150 to help it meet more stringent fuel economy regulations.”

Ford expects the weight loss “to translate to a 5 to 20% increase in fuel efficiency, depending on payload and conditions,” writes UPI’s Matt Bradwell. “Despite the reduction in weight,” however, the trucks  “are built on a high-strength steel frame that actually increases the truck’s towing capacity by 1,100 pounds and its hauling strength by 530 pounds.”

“‘Even with gas at $3 a gallon, fuel economy is still very important to people,” William Clay Ford Jr., the automaker’s executive chairman, said at the ceremonial introduction of the pickup at Ford’s Dearborn Truck Assembly Plant,” Bill Vlasic reports in the New York Times. Ford went on to point out that “gas consumption was the largest area of consumer dissatisfaction in the purchase of pickup trucks.”

Still, it hadn’t hurt sales of the F-150.

“For the past 30-odd years, the F-150 has been the bestselling vehicle in the U.S., period,” Car and Driver’s Alexander Stoklosa pointed out earlier this year. “To you, this means you’ll see a lot of F-150s every day, old and new, doesn’t matter, you will see one — or 150. To Ford, having the F-150 is akin to having an obscure, rich uncle die every single year, leaving behind a pile of cash.”

Let’s just say that the will is back in probate.

“This really is the most critical launch in Ford's history, and arguably one of the most critical launches for the entire industry,” Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, tells Alisa Priddle of the Detroit Free Press.

“As fuel economy standards rise, manufacturers will be required to consider various fuel-saving technologies, including the use of lightweight materials. The competition will be watching F-150 sales closely,” Brauer said.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama announced yesterday that “the U.S. has set a new goal to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by between 26% and 28% over the next 11 years as part of a climate change agreement with China,” Fox News reports. “The new target is a drastic increase from earlier in Obama's presidency, when he pledged to cut emissions by 17% by 2020.”

The F-150 presumably will be carrying a bit of that load.

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