Lightweight Steel Still Has Future in Pickups: Supplier

In response to Ford cutting weight from its new F-150 using aluminum body panels, the world’s largest steelmaker has released a design study to prove that lightweight steel can also play in the pickup truck market.

ArcelorMittal was able to cut 383 pounds from the weight of a pickup truck by using advanced lightweight steels. The company took a 2009 pickup truck and re-did the underbody using its high-strength steel to eliminate weight. They took it from 1,649 pounds down to 1,265 pounds which represents a 23 percent reduction.

SEE ALSO: 2015 Ford F-150 Details

This study was conducted, in part, as a response to Ford’s use of aluminum. The American automaker says that the 2015 F-150 Lariat weighs 732-pounds less than than a 2014 F-150 Lariat, tipping the scales with a 4,942-pound curb weight. Some of that weight reduction can be accounted for by lighter interior components, but it seems that aluminum still has the edge over steel when it comes to shedding pounds.

Light trucks tend to be the thirstiest vehicles in any automaker’s fleet, so each company is searching for solutions on how to make these work vehicles more efficient to help them meet CAFE standards. In the US, each automaker must have a fleet average fuel economy of 54.5 mpg by 2025.

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