The Ford F-150’s body made plenty of waves across the automotive industry as one of the first mainstream entries in the aluminum revolution. As everyday work trucks go, it doesn’t get much more all-American than that. But what about the world of luxury cars? Turns out Mercedes Benz is thinking of turning to aluminum as well. From World Car Fans:
Mercedes-Benz S-Class chief engineer Hermann-Joseph Storp has shed some light about the company’s next-gen flagship model.
Mercedes-Benz still hasn’t finished coming out with derivatives of the W222 S-Class but they have already started thinking about the next generation scheduled to come out before the end of the decade. During a press gathering this month at Geneva Motor Show, company chief engineer Hermann-Joseph Storp said Mercedes-Benz will focus on making the S-Class even greener and one way would be to use more aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) in the car’s construction.
While the W221 S-Class used just over 10 percent of aluminum in its body, the new one is almost half made from aluminum.
With news like this, it’s clear that aluminum is becoming part of the standard across all spectrums of cars. If it’s good enough for the rugged duty of a Ford F-150 and the premium expectations of a Mercedes Bens, then it shouldn’t be long until you see it in everything in between.