North American Truck of the Year

hone eagle wrote:

geotex1 wrote:
Being an engineer, I applaud innovation but I'm also very critical in that the essence of good engineering is to design by/to function. I'm not convinced Ford had that in mind for a working truck, but to be fair the actual percentage of truck buys who buy trucks to have something in the bed a handful of times a year has risen exponentially... Don't need much truck to haul groceries and hockey equipment. Repairs to that aluminum body are going to be expensive every way around. The insurance companies are not keen on them - I know this to be fact. Will be interesting to see how it ultimately proves out.

Nothing innovative at all ,Aluminum has been around in automotive bodies forever in whole or parts.
Insurance companies could care less they will charge what ever extra it will cost to repair and so far it seems to be between $100 and $200 a year,each individual will make their own decision.
To me the never rust is a major plus,and yes I know al oxidizes.

I agree with the insurance position being overplayed. But don't discount what Ford has done. This is not just some engine option that can be mitigated with other options. This is a wholesale change on their flagship vehicle to a different material. If you do not think this take guts from a corporate level you have never run owned a business to identify with this decision. Whether it is successful is an entirely different matter. But this IS a bold move.

FYI, I did not mean this as a dig to your comment and was not relating any business experience to you specifically but in general.