Ford loses ground as sales of aluminum F-150 trucks stall

[Zorba]

Yes, and with a name like "crashtech" who are we to argue.

One of the things body shops often need to do to repair a vehicle is basically to stretch the vehicle so that all four wheels are where they need to be. It's more involved that that, of course, but the fact is Al does not handle flexing very well. A steel piece may be bent then rebent to the original shape and the steel may not suffer much loss in strength. Al, on the other hand, will far more likely break when being bent back. Forming or reforming Al is far more complicated than steel.


Brian

Not sure where you got that idea about Al vs Steel, but it all depends on the alloy and temper. A lot of Al alloys and tempers are very easy to form, I've seen many complex curves formed by aircraft mechanics in 0.100 Al plate, and thicker formed by machine.

The other option to save weight would be high strength steel, which tend to be very brittle, so forming and especially reforming become much more complicated or impossible.

The 6061-T6 used by Ford is very common in aircraft hydraulic lines due to how easy it is to bend. Hydraulic lines are pretty much the only area I see 6061-T6 used on large aircraft, since other alloys are stronger but have other drawbacks.

 

[Childs]

QNX is the OS for the touch screen system in my 2008 Grand Cherokee.
It was available in 2007.

Seems odd that it's still around in cars all this time later.

QNX has been around for a long time. I used to install warehouse automation systems in the 90's and we used QNX for most of our controllers. Its real time, was super reliable, and ran on minimal hardware. I'm surprised it isnt used more for things like NAS, routers, DVRs, fancy stereos, etc. I guess its cheaper to use Linux.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

QNX has been around for a long time. I used to install warehouse automation systems in the 90's and we used QNX for most of our controllers. Its real time, was super reliable, and ran on minimal hardware. I'm surprised it isnt used more for things like NAS, routers, DVRs, fancy stereos, etc. I guess its cheaper to use Linux.

VxWorks (I think) had better customer support.

QNX should be used by a lot of things. Hell, my phone runs on QNX and it has yet to have things like text messaging vulnerabilities and other ungodly problems.

 

[LTC8K6]

The F-150 is doing well.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ford-finally-gotten-most-important-200519691.html

Ford has finally gotten its most important vehicle back on track

But that changed in August. Ford sold more than 70,000 F-Series pickups, the company reported in a statement. Ford was already on a pace to sell more than a half million F-Series pickups in 2015, so the big August — up 5% from August 2014 and the best month for Ford pickups since 2006 — should demonstrate that the decision to "lightweight" the truck didn't send buyers rushing to General Motors' Chevrolet and Fiat Chrysler Automobile's Ram.

So the big F-150 scare appears to be over. The market will accept an aluminum-bodied pickup. This isn't terribly surprising. We spent a week with the new pickup earlier this year and found it to be a terrific truck.

In another interesting Ford subplot to come out of sales day, the formerly left-for-dead Lincoln brand continued its return to, if not the upper reaches of the luxury market, then at least to viability. Lincoln notched its "best August results in seven years," Ford announced.

The brand was led by strong sales of the full-size Navigator SUV and the MKC crossover.

 

[Thump553]

I'm very glad to hear Ford is doing well with the F-150. That was a really ballsy decision they made-the safe route would have been to continue doing what they were doing. The sort of decision that will be discussed and debated in business schools over the next decade or so.

The downturn in gas prices certainly didn't help them either, but I'm convinced this decision greatly help Ford in the future, especially as higher CAFE requirements come into play.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Fleet sales for the F-150 are down, and it's because of the aluminum body. Consumer sales are still fine, but fleets are why the F-150 always sells so much.

 

[LTC8K6]

IIRC, limited fleet sales was intentional in the first half of the sales year, to get the limited supply of the new F-150's in consumer hands, rather than sending them to fleet sales.

Fleet sales will be a priority now that the supply of new F-150's is getting better.

On Tuesday, LaNeve said August inventories were approaching year-ago levels. The month ended with about 90,000 in stock, or a 55 days’ supply, enough to offer incentives where needed to be competitive, and enough to start filling fleet orders which were put off to later in the year. In August, 80% of F-150 sales were retail; only 20% were fleet. LaNeve said the normal split is about 60-40.

http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2015/09/01/ford-pickup-august-sales/71513248/

 

[ultimatebob]

I wonder of those irritating Chevy commercials with the guy running into a steel cage when a bear enters the room are having an actual impact with consumers.

I'd like to think that most people are smart enough not to buy into the "High Strength Steel = Better" BS that commercial is spouting, but then people have made millions preying off the stupidity of the average consumer in the past.

 

[LTC8K6]

I wonder of those irritating Chevy commercials with the guy running into a steel cage when a bear enters the room are having an actual impact with consumers.

I'd like to think that most people are smart enough not to buy into the "High Strength Steel = Better" BS that commercial is spouting, but then people have made millions preying off the stupidity of the average consumer in the past.

It doesn't appear that aluminum has anything to do with the sales figures.

Also, Ford can remind people of those GM commercials when GM switches to aluminum for the Silverado in year or two.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I wonder of those irritating Chevy commercials with the guy running into a steel cage when a bear enters the room are having an actual impact with consumers.

I'd like to think that most people are smart enough not to buy into the "High Strength Steel = Better" BS that commercial is spouting, but then people have made millions preying off the stupidity of the average consumer in the past.

And that is exactly it, they know consumers don't know how the aluminum Ford is using compares. I'm surprised they didn't show someone smashing a beer can on their forehead and go "do you really want an aluminum truck?"

It doesn't appear that aluminum has anything to do with the sales figures.

Also, Ford can remind people of those GM commercials when GM switches to aluminum for the Silverado in year or two.

What was the issue? Was it sourcing the frames?

 

[Scarpozzi]

Tundra did a lot of frame testing years ago that supposedly proved it superior to F150, but then I also read that a lot of Tundra frames were scrutinized for bending when put under severe load and causing the gap between the bed and cab to not align properly. I don't remember all the details, but it goes to show that towing and uneven road surfaces are a concern for some people.

I'm glad I have a slightly older F150. It's new enough to have SYNC and Bluetooth....and steel.

 

[Meghan54]

Tundra did a lot of frame testing years ago that supposedly proved it superior to F150, but then I also read that a lot of Tundra frames were scrutinized for bending when put under severe load and causing the gap between the bed and cab to not align properly. I don't remember all the details, but it goes to show that towing and uneven road surfaces are a concern for some people.

I'm glad I have a slightly older F150. It's new enough to have SYNC and Bluetooth....and steel.

Well, even the new Ford F-150's shouldn't be much of a concern since the frames are still steel. Only the body is alu.

 

[LTC8K6]

And that is exactly it, they know consumers don't know how the aluminum Ford is using compares. I'm surprised they didn't show someone smashing a beer can on their forehead and go "do you really want an aluminum truck?"



What was the issue? Was it sourcing the frames?

Yes, it was apparently supply problems.

I did read that they had to get another frame (steel) supplier.

http://www.cheatsheet.com/automobil...asnt-a-mistake-after-all.html/?ref=YF&ref=yfp