Next Ford F-150 to sport partial unibody platform

Thanks to CAFE obligations with their ever- stringent emissions and fuel economy legislation's, Ford has a problem trying to reach the 30mpg by 2016 with its F-150 pick-up.

In a bid to improve fuel economy, Ford is brain-storming ideas as to what materials should be used in/on the next F-150. This includes a partial unibody structure, aluminium and magnesium. With all these combined, Ford has the potential of achieving 20% better highway mpg than Ford�s all-new 2011 engine line-up.

Ford is very likely to keep a partial traditional body-on-frame design, keeping the cabin and cargo area apart, while using a unibody on half of the truck. This new tactic to the foundation would allegedly be produced mainly of magnesium/aluminium alloy.

Ford may also consider using aluminium for the F-150�s body panels, apart from the preservation of traditional steel for the cargo box for durability reasons.