Automotive News - January 20, 2014 - 94

94 * JANUARY 20, 2014
THE ALUMINUM F-150: WHY FORD TOOK THE PLUNGE

Ford's huge bet on aluminum
Escalating the pickup wars with a lower-weight, higher-cost play on the F-150
Bradford Wernle and Mike Colias
bwernle@crain.com

DETROIT - Alan Mulally took
one of the biggest business risks in
history in 2006 by mortgaging $23.6
billion in Ford Motor Co. assets to
avert bankruptcy. Now he's taking
another big chance by raising the
cost of his top-selling and most
profitable vehicle, the F-150, by
swapping aluminum for less expensive steel.
Analysts say substituting aluminum for steel costs an estimated
$2 per pound of weight saved. Ford
has said the 2015 F-150 will be up to
700 pounds lighter, but Ford hasn't
said how much of the weight loss is
the result of aluminum usage.
Ford has not set prices for the
2015 F-150. But Doug Scott, Ford's
truck marketing manager, said last
week that the company plans to
price the truck roughly the same as
the current F-150, from $24,500 to
$55,000.
The industry, especially major
truck competitors General Motors
and Chrysler, is watching the project
intently as Ford moves toward production in the fourth quarter.
Ford hasn't listed fuel economy
numbers, but several media reports

❝

"Pound for pound,
aluminum is stronger
and tougher than steel.
We have the best alloys
we've ever had. This is
the material of choice
going forward."
Alan Mulally

❝

hy did Ford Motor Co. take the plunge and
decide to build an aluminum-bodied 2015 F-150
pickup?
After all, moving from welded-steel construction
of the cab and cargo bed to lightweight aluminum meant
higher material costs, a huge investment in tooling and
engineering, the risk of a complicated and troubled
production launch and potential consumer resistance - on
the highest-volume vehicle in the United States.
A big gamble? Ford didn't see it that way, and here's why.
Ⅲ Weight savings of up to 15 percent compared with 2014
models means improved fuel economy and a better ability
to meet more stringent CAFE rules. Ford is said to be aiming
for 30 mpg on the highway from the 2015 F-150 - within
shouting distance of the government's 2025 standard
of 30.2 city/highway for full-sized pickups.
Ⅲ Ford has lots of institutional knowledge about aluminum
forming and manufacturing. The F-150 uses the same bonding
process developed by Ford for the Jaguar XJ luxury sedan and
the Range Rover SUV more than a decade ago.
Ⅲ The manufacturing footprint of the assembly line will
remain about the same. Rivet guns that replace spot welders
add complexity, but aluminum could allow other processes,
such as painting, to be simplified.
Ⅲ And there's another critical factor. CEO Alan Mulally spent
decades working with high-strength aluminum alloys while
building airplanes at Boeing. The boss was confident.
On these pages we delve into how and why Ford made its big
move to aluminum.

have said the new pickup could hit
30 mpg highway.
The aluminum-body pickup is the
latest phase of Ford's strategy to
meet future CAFE standards. Ford
committed billions to the EcoBoost
family of engines, an investment
that already has paid off.
The 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 has exceeded Ford's estimates and is the
largest-selling engine in the F-150

lineup, with a take rate of about 40
percent.
Ford currently charges a premium
of $2,095 for a truck with an EcoBoost V-6 rather than the 3.7-liter
base V-6.
But Ford's willingness to use a
costly material like aluminum is
striking because carmakers usually
try to cut costs when they renew big
programs, one consultant says.
"If a product planner or designer
on a typical program suggested a
$100 increase on a high-volume program, they'd be at risk of being
fired," said Eric Noble, president of
The CarLab in Orange Calif., an industry consulting firm specializing
in product planning. "Here's Ford
adding at least $1,000, and no one
got fired. In fact, they trotted it out
on a stage."
Noble says his $1,000 figure is just
a rough guess, based on an estimate
that aluminum costs about three
times as much as steel. Aluminum
sheet is roughly $2.20 per pound,
compared to 75 cents for steel.
Ford has said the 2015 F-150 will
weigh up to 700 pounds less than
the current model. So Ford is using a
see FORD, Page 96

GM considers a countermove: Light-duty diesels
Richard Truett
rtruett@crain.com

DETROIT - Steve Kiefer, General Motors'
vice president of global powertrain, said he
is considering a diesel engine for the lightduty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra to
counter fuel economy improvements due
on the Ford F-150 and Ram pickups.
He also said GM engineers are working to
improve the cylinder cutoff system already
on the trucks. The system turns off half an
engine's cylinders when the vehicle is cruising.
The 4.3-liter, V-6-powered Silverado and

Sierra are EPA rated at 24 mpg on
this fall. The aluminum-intensive
the highway. That is better than the
pickup shaves between 550 and 700
23 mpg of the most fuel-efficient
pounds of weight and will be avail2014 F-150 but is 2 mpg behind the
able with a new compact 2.7-liter
V-6 powered Ram 1500.
turbocharged V-6.
GM's full-sized pickups, however,
The good news for GM is that it
soon will be chasing the competihas a diesel for its pickups ready
tion. A Ram powered by an availto go. GM engineers designed a
able 3.0-liter diesel V-6 goes on sale Kiefer: Dust off
4.5-liter diesel V-8, but the pronext month with a highway EPA the 4½-liter?
ject was put on ice when the
rating expected to be around 28
company spiraled into bankruptmpg.
cy in 2009.
Ford officials are shooting for the same or
"We are looking closely at diesel entrees in
better when the redesigned F-150 arrives
that segment," Kiefer said. "In fact, I heard

the term 'dust off' that 4½-liter at one point.
That is certainly one of the options. Clearly,
we have a portfolio of diesel engines."
The 4.5-liter V-8 was to be built in GM's
Tonawanda, N.Y., engine plant. GM had
gone as far as clearing factory floor space
and installing the transfer lines in 2008.
Though the engine was advanced for its
time, with a single turbocharger mounted
between the cylinder heads and other innovations, GM would likely redesign the engine - possibly reducing displacement -
and adopting the latest friction reduction
technologies. c

TUNDRA CONUNDRUM
For now, Toyota chooses
shortfall over costly expansion
| PAGE 96 |

Ford's 2015 F-150 is likely
to deliver much better fuel economy
than the 2014 model, and rivals are
weighing options to compete.

Automotive News - January 20, 2014

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