Aluminum-body F-150 unveiled

2015 model more fuel-efficient, just as tough, Ford says

Journalists surround the new F-150 with a body built almost entirely out of aluminum at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Monday, Jan. 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Journalists surround the new F-150 with a body built almost entirely out of aluminum at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Monday, Jan. 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

DEARBORN, Mich. - Ford Motor Co. on Monday unveiled the new 2015 F-150 pickup, with a body that is 97 percent aluminum.

The lighter material shaves as much as 700 pounds off the 5,000-pound truck, a significant change for a vehicle known for its heft and an industry still reliant on steel. No other vehicle on the market contains as much aluminum.

“It’s a landmark moment for the full-size pickup truck,” said Jack Nerad, editorial director for Kelley Blue Book.

The change is Ford’s response to small-business owners’ desire for a more fuel-efficient and nimble truck - and stricter government requirements on fuel economy. And it sprang from a challenge by Ford’s chief executive officer to move beyond the traditional design for a full-size pickup.

The 2015 F-150 features the most extensive use of aluminum ever in a truck. And this isn’t just any truck. F-Series trucks - which include the F-150 and heavier duty models like the F-250 - have been the best-selling vehicles in the U.S. for the past 32 years; last year, Ford sold an F-Series every 41 seconds.

In November, 492 new F-150s were registered in Arkansas, more than any other vehicle. November data are the most recent available.

The F-150 is consistently the most popular vehicle registered in Arkansas.

In prepared remarks as a series of new F-150s burst through paper walls onto the floor of Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, Ford executives used “tough” to describe their newest pickup at least eight times. Raj Nair, the automaker’s product chief, underscored that the new vehicle’s frame is made of steel - stronger, he said, than the steel the company’s competitors use in their heavy-duty models. Only after that was the word aluminum uttered, and those in the stands heard it once.

“It’s a sensitive subject,” said Kevin Tynan, an auto analyst for Bloomberg Industries. “With any such change in direction, there will be doubts and incessant questions about whether it was the right move, the right time, and whether the execution is progressing according to plan.”

The key question for Ford, and the people who sell its trucks, is: Will customers embrace such a radical change? Dealers who have seen the new F-150 say they expect to encounter some skepticism, but the change had to be made.

“We’re aggressive, stretching the envelope,” said Sam Pack, owner of four Ford dealerships in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “I think you have to do that. If you don’t, then you get into that predicament of being a ‘me too’ vehicle.”

Still, it’s a big risk. Ford makes an estimated $10,000 profit on every F-Series truck it sells, making trucks a $7.6 billion profit center in the U.S. alone last year. And the company has had some quality issues with recent vehicle launches, adding to dealers’ worries. The 2013 Escape small SUV has been the subject of seven recalls.

The 2015 F-150 goes on sale late this year. While aluminum is more expensive than steel, Ford truck marketing chief Doug Scott said the F-Series will stay within the current price range. F-Series trucks now range from a starting price of $24,445 for a base model to $50,405 for a top-of-the-line Limited.

It’s difficult to calculate how much more aluminum costs, since there are different grades of aluminum and steel. Pete Reyes, the F-150’s chief engineer, said Ford expects to make up the premium by reducing its recycling costs, since there will be less metal to recycle, and by slimming down the engine and other components, since they won’t have to move so much weight.

Aluminum was used on cars even before the first F-Series went on sale in 1948. It’s widely used on sporty, low-volume cars now, like the Tesla Model S electric sedan and the Land Rover Evoque. U.S. Postal Service trucks are also made of aluminum.

Ford has spent decades researching the metal. Twenty years ago, the company built a fleet of 20 all-aluminum experimental sedans. Later, it used aluminum on exotic cars from Aston-Martin and Jaguar, brands it once owned. But up to now, Ford limited the aluminum on its trucks to the hoods and used steel for the rest.

New government fuel economy requirements, which mandate that automakers’ fleet of cars and trucks get a combined 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, are speeding the switch to aluminum. Chrysler’s Ram is currently the most fuel-efficient pickup, getting 25 mpg on the highway. The current F-150 gets as much as 23 mpg. Ford won’t say what the new truck’s fuel economy will be, but said it will trump the competition.

That could be an especially important incentive for landscapers, carpenters and other small-business owners focused on their bottom line.

“I think that’s going to outweigh the aluminum part of it,” said Brian Jarrett, a Ford dealer in Winter Haven, Fla., who hasn’t yet seen the new truck.

Improvements in aluminum are also driving the change. Three years ago, for example, Alcoa Inc. - one of Ford’s suppliers for the F-150 - figured out a way to pretreat aluminum so it would be more durable when parts are bonded together. Carmakers can now use three or four rivets to piece together parts that would have needed 10 rivets before, Alcoa spokesman Kevin Lowery said.

And Ford is able to take more risks. When the F-150 was last redesigned, in the mid-2000s, Ford was losing billions each year and resources were spread thin. But by 2010, when the company gave the green light to an all-aluminum truck, Ford was making money again.

Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, a former Boeing Co. executive who joined the company in 2006, encouraged his team to think bigger. After all, it was Mulally who led early development of Boeing’s Dreamliner, which replaced aluminum with even lighter plastics to be more efficient and fly farther.

“Everything becomes more efficient once you take the weight out,” Mulally said. He expects aluminum to be used across Ford’s model lineup in the future.

“You’re either moving ahead and you’re improving and you’re making it more valuable and more useful to the customer or you’re not,” Mulally said in a recent interview.

Ford is convinced that truck buyers will accept the change. The company said the new truck will tow more and haul more, since the engine doesn’t have to account for so much weight. It can also accelerate and stop more quickly. Aluminum doesn’t rust, Ford said, and it’s more resistant to dents.

Ford will still have a tough time wresting customers from the competition, mainly Chevrolet, GMC and Ram, said Jesse Toprak, an independent auto industry consultant in Los Angeles.

“Movement between brands in the full-size truck segment is extremely minimal,” Toprak said. “It’s the strongest loyalty of any segment.

Information for this article was contributed by Dee-Ann Durbin and Tom Krisher of The Associated Press, Craig Trudell of Bloomberg News and David Smith of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Business, Pages 23 on 01/14/2014

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