First Aluminum Bodied F-150 Rolls Off The Assembly Line - Who Should Be Worried The Most?

The first aluminum-bodied 2015 F-150 will roll off the assembly line at Ford Motor Co.'s renovated Dearborn Truck Plant on Tuesday morning, signaling a milestone for the automaker and a potential game-changer for the industry.

The new truck, unveiled at last year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, features an aluminum body and bed that reduces weight by about 700 pounds compared to last year's model. The lightweight material is expected to increase gas mileage 5 percent to 20 percent, but is more costly to make and repair — a big gamble for Ford's best-selling vehicle.

The Dearborn automaker said the new trucks will begin arriving in showrooms next month. Mileage numbers have not yet been released, but analysts expect significant improvements.

TehShibbs - 11/11/2014 1:01:10 PM

+3 Boost

I see a nice spike in insurance premiums soon.

skytop - 11/11/2014 3:45:38 PM

+1 Boost

New F150 is equivalent to 3,546 aluminum soda cans a 2 cents a piece.

TomM - 11/12/2014 7:36:17 AM

+1 Boost

GM has already shown that it has priced into its product extra room for rebates and incentives. Also note - GM trucks are lighter than Ford Trucks - so a direct comparison might not show as much of a MPG difference - plus the fact that some buyers will still want a V-8 - where the difference will be negligible.

Note - Ford has not announced MPG number to begin with - and road tests have shown less difference than expected.

And yes - cost of insurance MIGHT be an issue since Insurance companies had not announced how THEY will respond to the issue of higher priced repairs.

Then - we still have to consider when the Diesel options show up for GM and Ford too.