2015 Ford F-150 Rolls Off Production Line Today
The new aluminum-bodied 2015 F-150 begins rolling out of Ford’s Dearborn truck plant today.
Ford is venturing into new territory with the aluminum body that is meant to offer improved fuel economy by dropping as much as 750 lbs from the curb weight compared to the outgoing model. The Dearborn automaker shut its truck plant down for almost two months to install 500 robots necessary for “state-of-the-art joining technology” required to build the trucks out of aluminum rather than steel.
SEE ALSO: 2015 Ford F-150 Review
The company said in a press release today that it also added 85o workers to build the trucks spread across its Dearborn Truck, Diversified and Stamping facilities. While the plant was idled, the company also updated its paint shop and added new press lines to accommodate four new types of high-strength aluminum alloys that it says will reduce cab and cargo box weight while improving truck durability.
GALLERY: 2015 Ford F-150
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Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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I wonder if building cars is like making pancakes? Is the first batch always a throwaway? I don't care how much preparation is involved, I wouldn't want a brand new model made in its first couple days of production.