Ford F-150 to shed more steel and use aluminium instead from Alcoa

Ford F-150, America’s top-selling vehicle for 33 straight years, will shed even more steel. Ford announced it would use aluminium from Alcoa’s new micromill in Texas to make more automotive parts for the best-selling F-150 truck, which is now about 25 percent aluminium after switching to the lighter metal.

It plans to shed 700 pounds steel to improve mileage and comply with tougher federal emissions rules. Alcoa said its new next-generation aluminium alloys are more formable; so, they can be used for parts like fenders and inside door panels that have traditionally been made with steel.

“Light-weighting enables us to design vehicles with great customer attributes – like the F-150, which can tow more, haul more, accelerate quicker and stop faster than the previous F-150, and is more fuel-efficient than ever,” said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president and chief technical officer, Global Product Development.

The steelmakers have been fighting to defend their automotive market share. However, F-150’s increased use of aluminium has changed the story for good because the market-leading truck was a real volume booster. It sold more than 750,000 units last year.

Ford will start using Alcoa’s automotive alloys in the 2016 F-150 production later this year. The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker plans to increase use of aluminium over time, more than doubling it from 2016 to 2017.