????福特汽車公司（Ford Motor）今年夏天準備投產下一代F系列皮卡，車身材質從鋼材變?yōu)榱虽X材。這個大膽的決定在業(yè)內引發(fā)了陣陣驚呼。

????這是一個很大的跨越。福特之所以決定這么做，是因為它看到了鋁在提高燃油經濟性上的作用，同時深信鋁這種更多用于制造金屬箔和啤酒罐、而不是皮卡的材料在經過加工后與鋼媲美的強度。

????福特的鋁材主要供應商是諾夫利斯公司（Novelis），這是一家位于亞特蘭大的印度集團公司的子公司。也許讓人放心的是，諾夫利斯公司的首席執(zhí)行官恰好是福特前高管菲爾?馬頓斯。他當初曾是福特集團負責產品開發(fā)的副總裁，皮卡也屬于他的管轄范圍。2005年，他離開了福特。

????由于對燃油經濟性的監(jiān)管日益嚴格，汽車將必須努力做到“三合一”。馬頓斯在一次采訪中說：“第一，輕量化。第二，先進的動力系統(tǒng)（引擎和傳動系統(tǒng)）。三，保持產品品質?！闭畬ζ囍圃焐痰囊笫牵?025年，必須實現平均每加侖54.5英里的燃油消耗水平。

????諾夫利斯公司隸屬于印度鋁業(yè)公司（Hindalco Industries Ltd.），后者又是孟買跨國巨頭埃迪亞貝拉集團（Aditya Birla Group）的子公司。

????馬頓斯表示，在每輛皮卡車身所需的約900磅金屬中，諾夫利斯公司將會提供約550磅鋁，它們主要由紐約州奧斯威戈市的一家工廠制造。福特表示，轉用鋁后，整車重量將減少約700磅（約合317公斤）。

????他說：“還有其他技術水平不同的鋁供應商。但我們是唯一一家能生產整車車身的公司?！?/p>

????馬頓斯回憶說，他還在福特供職期間，公司為了展示的目的，特地生產了一輛鋁制的福特金牛座（Taurus）。福特擁有豪車捷豹（Jaguar）那段時期，2003款XJ就是全鋁制成的車型。而諾夫利斯公司生產的鋁目前用于現款路虎攬勝（Range Rover）。

????鋼鐵企業(yè)自然對福特的這個決定很是不滿。通用汽車公司（General Motors）和生產Ram皮卡的菲亞特克萊斯勒汽車公司（Fiat Chrysler Automobiles）則保持觀望狀態(tài)。如果全新的F系列皮卡大獲成功，他們可能也會試著采用鋁制車身。

????專為鋼鐵企業(yè)服務的研究機構鋼鐵市場發(fā)展研究所（The Steel Market Development Institute）斷言，全新的輕量化、高強度鋼在重量、強度和成本上完全可以和鋁媲美。而鋁行業(yè)的代表對此表示不敢茍同。

????馬頓斯稱：“我一直都說，鋼和鋁會繼續(xù)并存下去?！倍诟Ｌ毓緝炔苛硪晃讳X的潛在擁護者是首席執(zhí)行官艾倫?穆拉利。穆拉利曾經是波音公司（Boeing）商用飛機的主管，十分熟悉鋁材，也很適應。他在上個月舉行的底特律車展上曾預言，鋁材在汽車上的用量還會繼續(xù)增長。

????馬頓斯表示，他不知道穆拉利是否支持在新皮卡上采用新材料：“不過我很清楚大公司的運作方式，除非穆拉利帶頭推動這件事，否則這種事不會自然而然地發(fā)生?！?/p>

????心存懷疑的人可能會想起來這么一個事實，福特在現款F系列皮卡上用更省油的六缸渦輪增壓引擎代替了體積更大馬力也更強勁、同時也更重的V8引擎時，有人曾經懷疑消費者是否會買賬。他們的確買賬了。

????而福特全新皮卡的推出及消費者對它接受的情況將是今年汽車業(yè)最重大、也最受矚目的事件之一。（財富中文網）

????譯者：清遠

????

????Ford Motor Co.'s gutsy decision to build its next-generation F-Series pickups, starting this summer, from aluminum instead of steel prompted whistles of amazement across the industry.

????The leap is a huge one, which Ford (F) is prepared to make because it sees the virtue in added fuel economy and believes aluminum -- better known for foil wrap and beer cans than pickups -- can be fabricated to be as tough as steel.

????Ford's lead aluminum supplier is Novelis, an Atlanta-based subsidiary of an Indian conglomerate. Resassuringly, perhaps, the CEO of Novelis is none other than former senior Ford executive, Phil Martens, the automaker's group vice president in charge of product development, which would have included pickup trucks. He left Ford in 2005.

????Due to increasingly stringent fuel economy regulations, vehicles will have to pull off a "triple play," Martens said in an interview: "One, lightweight. Two, advanced powertrain (engine and transmission) and three, maintaining product attributes." Automakers have been told they must achieve a 54.5 mile-per-gallon fleet average by 2025.

????Novelis belongs to Hindalco Industries Ltd., a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai.

????Martens said Novelis will supply roughly 550 pounds of aluminum per pickup truck out of about 900 pounds of the metal used for each truck body. It will come from a plant in Oswego, N.Y. Ford has said the switch from steel will save about 700 pounds in the overall weight of the vehicle.

????"There are other suppliers of aluminum with differing levels of competence," he said, "but we are the only one that has produced an entire body."

????Martens recalled that during his tenure at Ford the company built, for demonstration purposes, a Ford Taurus from aluminum. During the period when Ford owned luxury carmaker Jaguar, the 2003 XJ was built from the metal. Novelis aluminum is used in the current model Range Rover.

????Steelmakers, naturally, are none too happy about Ford's decision. General Motors (GM) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which builds the Ram pickup, are watching. If the new F-Series pickups are a smash, they may try aluminum bodies as well.

????The Steel Market Development Institute, a research group for steelmakers, asserts that new lightweight, high-strength steel matches aluminum in terms of weight, strength, and cost -- which aluminum industry representatives dispute.

????"I've said all along that steel and aluminum will continue to coexist," said Martens. Another presumed apostle of aluminum, inside Ford, is CEO Alan Mulally. In a previous job as head of Boeing's commercial aircraft, Mulally was quite familiar and comfortable with the metal. Mulally predicted at last month's auto show that automotive use of aluminum will grow.

????Martens said he didn't know whether Mulally championed the material innovation for the new pickup: "But I can tell you the way big companies work, and there's no way this wouldn't have happened unless Mulally played a big role in making it happen."

????Doubters may recall that when Ford promoted more fuel efficient, six-cylinder, turbocharged engines for the current F-Series pickup as an alternative to larger and more powerful -- and heavier -- V-8s there were questions whether consumers would buy. They did.

????The rollout and consumer reception to Ford's new trucks will be one of the big and most watched events for the automotive industry this year.