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Jul 29, 2012

TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA

* DC - Truck makers push back on U.S. rollover-technology rule 

(Photo: Ford's AdvanceTrac stability control with anti-rollover technology) 
Washington,DC,USA -Bloomberg News/The Detroit News, by Jeff Plungis -July 26, 2012: -- U.S. truck manufacturers are urging the Transportation Department to scale back a requirement for anti-rollover systems, saying it may force them to spend millions to avoid crashes that probably won't occur... The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed in May to require electronic stability control in heavy-duty trucks and buses in two to four years. The technology will help prevent rollover accidents that now result in about 700 fatalities a year, the agency said... Truck manufacturers, while praising the proposed technology at a public hearing in Washington Wednesday, said NHTSA's stability-control road test for each model would go far beyond what truckers would probably experience in driving... NHTSA should adopt a test that trucks with roll stability control can pass. Companies would be free to adopt the more expensive electronic stability control systems if they wanted... NHTSA projected in its proposed rule that electronic stability control may prevent as many as 56 percent of rollover crashes and another 14 percent of loss-of-control crashes. Agency researchers estimate it would prevent 2,329 crashes and save 49 to 60 lives a year... 


* Michigan - Ford Reports of more aluminum on F-150 'premature'

(Photo from Ford: Ford has made the hood of the F-150 out of aluminum since 2004. It has used aluminum for the lower control arm on the SVT Raptor version of the truck since 2010)
 Dearborn,MICH,USA -The Detroit News, by Karl Henkel -July 27, 2012: --  Ford Motor Co. is looking into adding more aluminum parts to its popular F-150 pickup, according to a company source, but the automaker says reports it is planning a largely aluminum version of the truck are "premature." The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Dearborn automaker "is working on a pickup truck with a largely aluminum body" for 2014. But Ford spokesman Said Deep said, "It is premature to discuss specific approaches or solutions that we might use for future products" ... Ford has made the hood of the F-150 out of aluminum since 2004...  Analysts said Ford may add other aluminum body components in its next-generation truck, but said an aluminum body is not practical...  A Ford source confirmed the company is looking at using more aluminum components on its new pickup, but added that design has not been finalized. Adding aluminum components would lower the weight of the F-150 and improve fuel efficiency, currently an Environmental Protection Agency-certified 17 miles per gallon combined city and highway. Ford has tried to shed weight across its vehicle lineup, especially with the pending fuel-economy regulations implemented last year.Those regulations will require U.S. vehicle fleets to average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025...


* Michigan - Ford Plans Aluminum Pickup Truck to Boost Mileage

Allen Park,MICH,USA -NASDAQ/The WSJ, by Mike Ramsey -27 July 2012: -- In this suburb just west of Detroit, Ford Motor Co. is working on one of the biggest gambles in its 108-year history: a pickup truck with a largely aluminum body... The radical redesign will help meet tougher federal fuel-economy targets now starting to have wide-ranging effects on Detroit's auto makers... Ford is hoping the switch to the lighter metal will cut the weight of its F-150 truck by about 700 pounds, according to Ford executives familiar with the company's plans. That is roughly a 15% reduction for the F-150, which is the company's most popular pickup in the U.S., favored by farmers and suburbanites alike. Such a reduction would enable Ford's trucks to go farther on a gallon of gasoline, and open the door to other changes, such as the use of smaller engines, that can further boost fuel economy. Along with the aluminum makeover, the new F-150 also is getting a more muscular look, according to one Ford designer... In the summer of 2011, the Obama administration pushed through new fuel-economy regulations that would require the U.S. vehicle fleet to average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025... The new Ford truck is being designed to come out in 2014 capable of hitting the increasing fuel economy standards through 2020, one of the executives familiar with its plans said...

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