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GM Talks Pickup Truck Strategy

By fitting the next-generation F-150 with an aluminum body, Ford will be offering a truck that’s 700 pounds (317 kg) lighter than the current pickup, which translates into better performance and improved mileage.
2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1 photo
Photo: Chevrolet
This also means that GM needs to find new ways to catch up with Ford’s F-Series, a truck that overshadowed the Chevrolet Silverado since the mid-1970s. Redesigned for the 2014 model year, the Silverado is far from getting rebuilt from the ground up, but several improvements will follow in the near future.

But unlike Ford, GM won’t go into aluminum, company CEO Mark Reuss told Automobile Magazine in a recent interview. “If I was in Ford’s shoes [aluminum] would be one way to solve an equation on a line that doesn’t get any better from a CAFE and grams of CO2 standpoint. That’s one way to solve it,” he said.

“We’re doing this in a different way, creating models that are different in size [the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon] , and therefore we’ll get even more mass savings [than Ford]. We’ll also have different powertrains than what they will have in their big truck. We’ve got two platforms that we can be pretty agile with. We will never be done with improving these trucks from CAFE, mass and performance standpoints,” Reuss added.

Story via Automobile
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About the author: Ciprian Florea
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Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.
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