2014 will see the launch of the Ford F-150. Fast-forward two years and another famous rugged vehicle will begin hitting the streets with an aluminum body. It’s time to welcome the Jeep Wrangler to the aluminum family. From AutoNews:

The next-generation Jeep Wrangler will feature an aluminum body to save weight, and will remain a body-on-frame vehicle, sources say.

Because Chrysler won’t make the switch to unibody construction, Wrangler assembly will probably stay in Toledo. And that means the company will likely produce more Wranglers for U.S. dealers and for export.

The Wrangler tale started in early October in Paris when Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, was asked about two of his previous promises — never to build Wranglers outside Toledo and no more brick-and-mortar factories in North America.

In his response, Marchionne chose his words carefully. He said that the next Wrangler needed to lose weight and that doing so with aluminum might mean the Wrangler had to move elsewhere because of excessive costs to re-equip the Toledo plant for aluminum assembly.

He pointed out that Chrysler had excess capacity in at least two of its existing plants. But the two plants he named currently build only unibody vehicles, which can’t be built on the same line as body-on-frame vehicles.

As Jeeps are built and configured differently than trucks, we’ll surely be getting more details in the next year about how aluminum is incorporated into both the design and manufacturing of the vehicle. Stay tuned.

We’ve seen how the American car market has pushed toward aluminum with Ford and Tesla leading the way. European car makers have also made notable progress in this realm. Now, a market we don’t usually talk about has made some noise on this matter. Enter China and their commitment to aluminum-based electric vehicles as a means to address both transportation and environmental concerns. From Bloomberg:

China’s drive to build electric cars is likely to set up a greater-than-forecast surge in demand for aluminum, according to Novelis Inc., the world’s biggest supplier to automakers of sheets made of the light metal.

China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, is mandating that at least 30 percent of new government vehicles be powered by alternative energy by 2016 in the government’s latest salvo to combat pollution and reduce energy dependence.

The use of aluminum in auto bodies by China, Japan and South Korea, Asia’s major carmaking countries, is around 50,000 metric tons and expected to grow at about 30 percent a year for at least the next decade, Shashi Maudgal, president of Novelis Asia, said in an interview in Changzhou.

We’ve seen aluminum become more than a trend with US automakers, but it looks like the rest of the world is following.

While the aluminum industry is focusing on its big fall launch with the F-150 — something that has produced some recent posturing from the steel industry — the Daily Meal brought things a little closer to home. Aluminum is great for car bodies and smartphone frames, but sometimes it can be used to help out with a few cooking ideas when you’re out of the proper equipment. From the Daily Meal’s 5 things You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Aluminum Foil:

Make a tart. No need to buy a special tart ring if you have aluminum foil; just fold a long sheet of foil into a thin strip before looping it into a circle. Secure the circle by pinching the foil. Then, line the aluminum foil ring with your pie crust and bake as usual.

Make a complete dinner on the grill. Don’t dirty pots and pans when you can toss all the ingredients you need for a meal into a foil packet and then onto the grill. Try fish, potatoes, and fresh vegetables.

Make a funnel. From filling a cupcake tin to making pancakes, a funnel is one of those kitchen tools I always seem to need but never have on hand. In a pinch I make one using aluminum foil.

Prevent pie crust from burning. If you’re baking a pie and it looks like the edges of the crust are browning to fast, cover them in long, thin strips of foil; this will allow the center of the pie to continue cooking without further browning the outer edge of the pie.

Click on through to the full article for photos and the fifth aluminum foil hack.