Ford may be facing serious issues with what might be its most important launch of the foreseeable future. A shortage of the aluminum alloy required for the body panels of the F-150 could be causing critical delays in the truck’s production.
Two months it was reported that the 2015 F-150 would take the unprecedented step of using aluminum in its body panels to cut weight by 750 pounds. What seemed like a forward-thinking step may now be coming back to bite Ford in the tailgate.
If what The Truth About Cars has learned proves accurate, Alcoa and other suppliers have not been able to provide aluminum of the proper elasticity quotient needed for stamping. The delays are currently estimated at 6 to 10 weeks at Ford’s truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan.
As Ford’s (and America’s) best selling vehicle buy a wide margin, the F-150 is the company’s most important model and biggest moneymaker. Understandably, Ford is putting pressure on Alcoa and its other suppliers to quickly furnish the proper materials. TTAC goes on to say that the internal F-150 launch date was supposed to be Memorial Day, but that is already out of reach.
It’s already been reported that Ford will build old and new F-150 models concurrently in order to maintain supply. The Kansas City plant is apparently rolling out current-gen trucks, using thinner-gauge steel on models without tow packages, to hold them over until the next-gen trucks are ready in late 2014.