Ford's decision to use aluminum on the F-150 has paid off in big dividends in terms of weight, fuel economy, and performance. Now you would think that Ford would use aluminum in other vehicles. Not so fast says Ford's president of the Americas Joe Hinrichs. At the Automotive News World Congress, Hinrichs says that aluminum will stick with the trucks.
“One of the big benefits you get from light-weighting ... you can tow more and haul more. You don’t get those same benefits to a customer on the car side. Truck buyers will pay for more capability, car buyers will pay for better fuel economy, but there’s other ways to get fuel economy in a car without the need to provide more capability," said Hinrichs. “I don’t think we’ll see a dramatic increase in all-aluminum cars.”
That said, Ford is looking at ways to decrease the weight in their vehicles. One of those ways could be carbon fiber.
"There’s a lot of costs associated with aluminum. But if the industry can find ways to reduce costs then there’s a point in the future where we’ll see more aluminum in more standard vehicles,” said Akshay Anand, analyst at Kelley Blue Book.
Source: The Detroit News
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