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Photo courtesy Ford Motor Co. Motorized Vehicles—Manufacturing Trends
Ford is pioneering the use of an aluminum alloy body for a mass-produced vehicle with its 2015 F-150 pickup.
They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To
Demand for greater fuel efficiency and lower emissions is changing the face of motorized vehicle manufacturing
James D. Sawyer Executive Editor
A
new era has dawned in motorized vehicle manufacturing. Until recently the domi- nant trend has been the implementation of lean manufacturing and continuous improvement processes to make automo- tive production more efficient.
The new trend also stresses efficiency, but now there is a sharp focus on fuel efficiency driven by government regula- tion. (Even though production efficiency is being forced to take a back seat, it will still play a part in this new era.) While lightweighting is the term being widely applied to this new era, it is a bit of a misnomer. Lighter materials will