Not only is Ford engineering the new truck. They're also inventing, engineering and building the presses, machinery and conveyors required to build aluminum bodies in bulk. That's something that's never been done before.
And Ford has committed to producing as many as 20,000 body shells in order to get the bodies right. That's a bunch of adjustments--and recycling.
Their processes are important, as future car bodies will be made this way. And General Motors is already in the process of engineering aluminum truck bodies--even if their new 1500 series is just a year old.
If their engineering (of the truck and the factory) goes smooth, we'll see the new trucks sooner.
And when they get their processes right, Ford will close down the second factory and convert it to the new F150. They'll be making two different F150's for awhile.
