Ford’s much awaited all-aluminium F-150 goes into production

On Tuesday, officially the production began for the much awaited and much hyped Ford F-150 in the same place where Ford’s Model A cars were built 90 years ago, the Ford’s Rouge Factory.

Back then, the switchover from the top running model T to a newer model A had also cost the company dearly as this transition to the all-aluminium F-150 is proving to be. It has cut into the company’s global profits significantly as the switch from steel to aluminium meant new techniques, new equipment and new skill sets.

Sceptics are still doubtful whether the conservative-minded pick-up truck buyers will accept the radical change in the core material. The new model however claims to cut the weight by 700lbs and reduce fuel consumption by 5-20 percent. These numbers would be in keeping with the US government’s Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency rules.

The Ford Motor’s chief executive, Mark Fields claims that the decision to switch over to aluminium was “not difficult” for them even though the decision is potentially a high risk one. The F-150 is the best selling vehicle of the company accounting for a disproportionate share of Ford’s profits.

However Fields claims, “The team did a tremendous amount of work over a period of two, three years,” he said of the exploratory team who examined the issue. “When we made the decision, we all went round the room and everyone agreed.”

Although the switch will mean that the cost of production as well as the price of the product will increase significantly, Fields refused to comment how that would affect the company’s profits. Instead, he insisted that the profitability depended on many factors including raw materials, volume and cost at which the vehicles are sold.

He ended with the statement, “The F150 is a big profit contributor every year and we expect it to continue to be so.”