Ford looking to aluminum for pickups?

— -- Ford Motor, which has seen hidebound pickup buyers embrace gas-saving technology, appears to be headed a step further: an F-150 that makes extensive use of aluminum panels instead of steel.

Ford Motor will embrace aluminum when the next-generation F-150 appears in July 2014 as a way of saving gas, although it'll raise costs, says Richard Schultz, managing director of consultant Ducker Worldwide, who was briefed on the change by a Ford executive with knowledge of the plans. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Ford is embracing aluminum to cut 700 pounds out of an F-150 pickup.

The stakes are huge. The F-Series pickup is Ford's top moneymaker and has been the top-selling vehicle of any kind in the U.S. for 30 years. Ford and other automakers face increasingly tough fuel-economy standards that will force innovation. Ford's Mike Levine says "it's premature" to talk of the next F-Series. "We're constantly looking at multiple ways to improve our cars and our trucks." He noted the F-150 has had an aluminum hood since 2004.

There's no question that Ford and its rivals are "running (aluminum-intensive pickup) prototypes," says David Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Auto Research. "They all are moving in that direction."

Luxury-car makers have long used aluminum for bodies because they weigh less. The weight savings trickle down. With less weight to push around, a vehicle can have a smaller engine, brakes and other components, adding to the fuel savings.

But taking 800 pounds out of a 5,500-pound pickup primarily through use of aluminum roof, hood, body, doors and tailgate can add about $1,500 to a truck's cost while providing up to an 8% gain in fuel savings, says Schultz, who conducted a study of the issue for the Environmental Protection Agency and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Steel, which makes up about 57% of the weight of a pickup, will fall to 46% by 2025, Schultz's data show. Aluminum, which now makes up an average of about 8%, could double in cars and triple in trucks.

Ford has shown truck traditionalists are open to change. It boldly introduced turbocharged and direct-injected V-6 engines on pickups in February 2011, as an alternative to V-8s. Today, 43% of F-150s sold have EcoBoost engines.