Report: General Motors to follow Ford’s lead in significantly reducing weight with pickups

Reuters’ British sector reports that General Motors will be completely overhauling their next generation pickup truck line in response to Ford’s apparent move to significantly decrease the weight of their F150 by using an all-aluminum body. These are in bids to meet the significantly stricter US fuel economy mandates as of recent.

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Though because the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra just received a new generation update, the weight loss changes aren’t expected to occur until the generation after, which is sometime in 2019. Ford’s plan is to introduce their new aluminum F150 next year, where the Dearborn-make claims at least 700lbs will be trimmed off of the standard F150.

But to make sure they’re on track, General Motors will apparently be implementing some changes to the current Silverado and Sierra’s generation, despite only beginning sales a few weeks ago.

“We’re going to look at all the levers we can pull – materials, aerodynamics, powertrain – to continue to improve fuel efficiency, both on an interim basis and as we go to the next-generation trucks,” GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson told Reuters.

To specify, some of those changes will be including the use of aluminum and lightweight composites. Rumor even has it from an apparent supplier source that GM is planning to reveal a special “aluminum-intensive” variant of the Silverado, allowing it to cut nearly 250lbs off of its curb weight.

– By: Chris Chin

Source: ReutersUK