Ford F-150

An Iconic Pickup Loses Weight

For the thirteenth generation of America’s most popular pickup, Ford switched nearly every steel body panel out for aluminum, saving 750 pounds and boosting the F-150’s mileage by 12 percent. At first, Ford had to create an ad campaign to convince buyers of the toughness of the lightweight metal, but ultimately won them over. Sales went up and stayed up. The rest of the Big Three, GM and Fiat Chrysler, followed suit, emphasizing efficiency in their own pickups.