2 10, 2014

Six New Facts About The Aluminum F-150

2015-06-18T15:33:04+00:00October 2nd, 2014|

We’ve been talking about Ford’s aluminum-based F-150 in broad strokes for quite some time now. As we inch closer and closer to the public street date, news outlets are getting more facts and figures about the bestselling truck line in America. Let’s see what USA Today found out in a recent report:

  • Sign-makers are working up removable, sticky-film decals because magnetic signs won’t stick to aluminum. You’ll still be able to proclaim, “My kid’s an honor student,” or, “Best Gutter Cleaning in Three Counties” using the new slap-on appliques that independent retailers expect to be selling soon.
  • Aluminum body didn’t cut 770 pounds of weight. About 500 pounds. The rest is from lighter steel frame, heavy use of high-strength, lightweight steel throughout the truck. The frame is 78% high-strength steel, up from 22% in the 2014 F-150.
  • The 2.7-liter EcoBoost V-6 Ford’s promoting as a good blend of power, mileage will be a $495 option when the truck’s launched late this year. discounted from the $795 sticker price to get dealers to order the engine and buyers to consider it. Power ratings: 325 horsepower, 375 pounds-feet of torque at 3,000 rpm. It will be able to tow 8,500 pounds. No official mpg ratings on it or the other powertrains until November. The 2.7 engine also will be offered as the high-performance choice in the new version of the Ford Escape Sport.

USA Today has three more F-150 facts in the original article, so click through to it and find out more about how aluminum has changed America’s bestselling truck.

25 09, 2014

Toyota’s Camry To Go With Aluminum

2015-06-18T15:33:04+00:00September 25th, 2014|

The country’s bestselling car is about to get an aluminum makeover. And you can bet that the rest of the auto industry is watching.

The Toyota Camry is the bestselling car in America for 12 years running. With 300,000 models sold in the 2014 calendar year, any design change is a big deal — but it’s an even bigger deal when it sees part of the body change to aluminum. From Automotive News:

Toyota Motor Corp. is set to become the next global automaker to begin making the expensive shift from steel to aluminum for a high-volume vehicle.

The U.S.-built Camry, the country’s best-selling car, is slated to get an aluminum hood in 2018, according to a source familiar with the plans.

Toyota’s first foray into aluminum closures in North America will come next year when the 2016 Lexus RX 350 crossover, which is made in Cambridge, Ontario, gets an aluminum hood and liftgate, the source said.

The aluminum sheet for the Camry hood likely will come from a joint venture between Toyota Tsusho Corp., a trading company affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp., and Kobe Steel to produce more aluminum sheet metal in the U.S. Toyota will be among the venture’s first customers, several sources confirmed. Production is expected to begin in 2017 and ramp up to full output at the beginning of 2018.

What does this mean for the aluminum industry? It’s no longer a grand experiment put on by Ford and Tesla. Or as Monte Kaehr (chief engineer for the 2015 Camry) puts it, “It’s no secret that the entire industry is aggressively pursuing aluminum.”

18 09, 2014

Kitchen Hacks With Aluminum Foil

2017-01-26T23:37:28+00:00September 18th, 2014|

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.

12 09, 2014

Ford Tours F-150 To Show Off Aluminum-Built Toughness

2017-01-26T23:37:29+00:00September 12th, 2014|

Ford knows that there are skeptics out there regarding the aluminum-built F-150 despite good numbers and strong buzz. To help get dealers ready for the big launch, the company is bringing the F-150 around the country to prepare dealers for questions and concerns from a curious public. From Fox Business:

Ford Motor Co. (F) is putting its new aluminum-bodied F-150 to the test.

FOX Business got an exclusive look at a demonstration event featuring the 2015 F-150, which is expected to go on sale later this year. Ford is visiting 26 cities to introduce the pickup truck to sales personnel.

The aluminum truck has been the talk of the auto industry since it was introduced at the Detroit auto show in January. Few production cars are made almost entirely of the lighter metal. The F-150 will be the first truck to use an aluminum body.

By switching from steel, Ford cut 700 pounds from the nation’s best-selling pickup. While the company has yet to release fuel economy estimates, analysts widely expect the 2015 F-150 to get better gas mileage than previous versions.

At the demonstration in Romeo, Mich., Ford pitted its F-150 against the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra from General Motors (GM), plus the Ram 1500 from Chrysler Group.

“We want our sales consultants to have confidence that this new truck is just as capable,” Eric Peterson, Ford’s F-150 marketing manager, told FBN’s Jeff Flock. “It’s got great performance and great capability just like the current truck. That’s what they get to experience firsthand.”

The F-150 is set for public launch later this year. Expect to see official numbers regarding MPG shortly before the launch.

2 09, 2014

Real Truck Drivers Put Aluminum To The Test

2015-06-18T15:33:04+00:00September 2nd, 2014|

As we get closer to the public launch of the aluminum-based Ford F-150, Ford is already ramping up its PR campaign. Part of that is addressing the unknown quantity about how “tough” aluminum truly is. Most people continue to associate it with easily crushed soda cans, but experts with material properties backgrounds understand why it was chosen.

For the everyday Joe, though, sometimes it’s easier to simply see a video demonstration. From HybridCars.com:

Four truck customers have been offered the chance to get behind the wheel of Ford’s new aluminum-built, EcoBoost-powered 2015 F-150.

Ford started releasing last Friday the first of four videos in the “You Test” series; these videos will show, said Ford, how these customers tested the all-new F-150 at www.BuiltToughTest.com.

The company explained these truck customers were selected from more than 15,000 submissions, in which entrants described how they would test the toughness of the new F-150 pickup.

“Our four winners demonstrate how Built Ford Tough isn’t simply a tagline – it’s our brand commitment that F-150 gets the job done, day in and day out,” said Doug Scott, Ford Truck Group marketing manager. “The videos show real-world testing beyond testing already conducted by Ford engineers. This is what matters most – serving our customers.”

Click through to the original article to see all four demonstration videos or go to the official F-150 website.

25 08, 2014

The Great Aluminum Undertaking Begins

2015-06-18T15:33:04+00:00August 25th, 2014|

With the public on-sale date fast approaching for the F-150,Ford has begun overhauling its manufacturing plants to prepare for the rapid ramp-up for large-scale production of the aluminum-based vehicle. The last of the previous year’s models are finished, and beginning earlier this week, the focus switched to implementing and integrating new equipment to oversee the aluminum manufacturing process. From Bloomberg:

Ford Motor Co. (F), the second-largest U.S. automaker, has begun an eight-week closure of its Dearborn, Michigan, F-150 pickup plant to overhaul it for a new, aluminum-bodied version of the top-selling vehicle line in the U.S.

“This is historic for the industry, not just for Ford,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of the Americas, told reporters today at the company’s product development center in Dearborn. “To take the No. 1 selling vehicle for 32 years — it will be 33 soon — and convert it like this, at this volume, to aluminum, is historic and unprecedented.”

Michigan workers assembled their last 2014 F-150 early on Aug. 22 and crews began tearing up the plant to make way for the new equipment necessary to manufacture parts out of aluminum, Hinrichs said. The conversion began one day ahead of schedule, he said, and this weekend, 1,100 trucks will stream into the plant to deliver the new tools. By mid-October, the factory will be building the “production version” of the 2015 model, he said.

“This is a massive undertaking, one of the bigger logistical challenges we’ve ever seen,” Hinrichs said. “It’s been orchestrated literally by the minute, by the truckload.”

This is just the first step for Ford as the company re-evaluates its North American manufacturing plan. For more details, read the entire Bloomberg article.

18 08, 2014

Steel vs. Aluminum: A History Lesson

2015-06-18T15:33:04+00:00August 18th, 2014|

Steel may have been the flag-bearer for years and years, but then along came aluminum. And with much resistance, the industry reluctantly gave aluminum a try. Soon, the transition was tangible and the result was a manufacturing revolution.

Sound familiar? Given all the hype and news about the Ford F-150, you’d probably think that we were discussing the auto industry. However, the Motley Fool gives us a history lesson on how this happened before:

The year was 1934. After lots of coaxing, the American Can Co. finally persuaded Krueger Brewing to try selling its beer in steel cans. It worked, and by the end of 1935 23 different brewers were selling their beer in steel cans, which were easier to sell because they were lighter and more compact than bottles and quicker to fill.

Steel, however, was pushed out of the market in the 1970s after Coors (NYSE: TAP  ) developed the first aluminum beer can. These were cheaper to produce, even lighter in weight, and took less time to chill. The nationwide switch to aluminum cans created a major structural demand shift for the aluminum industry.

That same structural shift is about to happen again. This time, the Ford (NYSE: F  )  F-150 is replacing 1,500 pounds of steel with 900 pounds of aluminum in the all-new 2015 model. With this shift, aluminum appears poised to slowly take over the auto industry, much like it took over the beer can industry a few decades ago.

Aluminum has slowly been pushing steel out of cars for decades. In 1975 less than 100 pounds of aluminum could be found in the average car. Today that number has risen to 343 pounds of aluminum.

The rest of the article focuses on the differences in material properties between steel and aluminum. Together, it makes a valid argument as to why manufacturers are starting to see aluminum as the smart choice.

12 08, 2014

CNBC: Aluminum’s Time To Shine

2017-01-26T23:37:29+00:00August 12th, 2014|

With such an intense focus on the auto industry and the launch of the Ford F-150, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture: that aluminum as a whole is used many different types of manufacturing all over the world. From that perspective, the momentum is as strong — if not more — than the microcosm of the auto industry. CNBC recently highlighted this in a report, and the outlook is very positive.

From CNBC:

As sentiment turns increasingly bullish towards aluminum amid a backdrop of tight supply, analysts say the once-shunned base metal is finally at a turning point.

The metal has been trading near seventeen-month highs above $2,000 per ton in recent weeks and entered a bull market in late July, up more than 20 percent since a 2014 low of $1,677 in February.

“We’re probably now at a point where the aluminum market may be turning and that has everything to do with supply shutting down in China and as supply-demand re-balances across the entire industry,” Gaurav Sodhi, resources analyst at Intelligent Investor, told CNBC on Thursday.

For a more detailed look at the world aluminum market, including the impact of recent movement in the Chinese manufacturing industry, see CNBC’s full article.

6 08, 2014

Jaguar Ready To Deploy Aluminum Architecture

2015-06-18T15:33:04+00:00August 6th, 2014|

Jaguar is ready to commit full-scale to aluminum. The British automaker recently announced that its new line of vehicles will be based on a new flexible aluminum architecture. Jaguar is looking at the Paris auto show in October to unveil the first of this line. From Automotive News:

Jaguar is moving to a new flexible aluminum architecture for future vehicles.

The XE sedan debuting in October at the Paris auto show will be the first to use the architecture. It will be followed by a compact crossover that will take styling cues from the C-X17 concept unveiled last fall at the Frankfurt auto show.

From there, Jaguar will expand its lineup, with the goal of transforming the brand into a formidable competitor with the German makes. But Jaguar executives insist the brand won’t develop vehicles in every segment. They say they want Jaguar to remain a smaller player than its competitors.

Older vehicles such as the XK coupe and convertible, which would cost too much to engineer to meet new safety and emissions standards, are being killed off. The 2015 models will be the last for the XK coupe and convertible. Jaguar’s halo cars are now the F-Type coupe and convertible. U.S. sales of the coupe began in June. The convertible went on sale a year earlier.

While the aluminum body hasn’t yet trickled down to all of Jaguar’s vehicles, industry insiders believe it’s just a matter of time before the transition is made. For example, the popular XF line will see a redesign in the next 1-2 years, and it makes sense that Jaguar will use that as the aluminum transition point for design and manufacturing.

30 07, 2014

2015 Ford F-150 Prices Announced

2015-06-18T15:33:04+00:00July 30th, 2014|

August is here, and with it, the F-150 is getting closer to its public launch. You can tell the momentum is picking up as more publicity and news hits the wire. The biggest news, however, just came from Ford: the price. From the LA Times:

Ford has announced pricing on its groundbreaking new aluminum F-150 truck, due to reach dealers later this year. Though cheaper models will see only a modest increase in price over current, non-aluminum models, the price of Ford’s high-end editions will jump by more than $3,000.

The new 2015 F-150 XL will start at $26,615, while the XLT will start at $31,890. That’s a gain of $400 for each version, which together make up about 70% of all F-150 sales. The price of the midlevel Lariat is up $900 to $39,880, which includes a fully digital instrument panel and blind-spot monitoring.

At the high end of the F-150 lineup are the King Ranch and Platinum models. The 2015 King Ranch edition is up $3,615 to $49,460. The 2015 Platinum model will start at $52,155, an increase of $3,055.

Many observers expected a modest increase due to new manufacturing and materials, and there’s certainly some variation here. However, keep fuel savings in mind when you look at the big picture (official MPG hasn’t been released yet but is expected to be higher than 2014’s 17/23).

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