The latest segment, titled Cages: High Strength Steel, shows the reaction of then focus-group participants who are asked to choose between a steel and aluminum cage for protection when a grizzly bear enters the room.
The advertisement is a thinly-veiled ad casting doubt on the structural integrity of the aluminum-bodied Ford F-150 vs the steel-clad Chevrolet Silverado, however the best-selling rival pickup is not mentioned by name.
Ford has pointed out that its engineers have not simply swapped aluminum for steel using the same gauge material for each application. Instead, the aluminum truck bed and body panels are made thicker and heat treated to meet or exceed the durability standards of steel components.
Ford has admitted that a minor percentage of customers are initially skeptical of aluminum, and GM appears to be targeting this group. In the meantime, GM continues to use more aluminum in many of its other vehicles, such as the Cadillac CT6 and Chevrolet Malibu, for the same reasons that Ford switched to the lightweight material for the F-150.
Reports suggest GM has already secured aluminum supply contracts to build lightweight bodies for its next-generation pickups, due to arrive in 2018 or later.
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