James R. Healey

USAToday

Some of Ford's best truck customers will have to wait until next year to get their aluminum-body Ford F-150 pickups, according to a report in trade publication Automotive News.

The truck goes into production soon at Ford's Dearborn, Mich., factory, but only ordinary models for dealer inventory will be produced at first, the publication said, citing a confidential letter to dealers.

Two key groups won't get their hands on F-150s until February or later: Fleets, who get big discounts but buy multiple vehicles at a time so Ford still makes healthy profits. And custom-order buyers, who want specific equipment, trim, colors and accessories. Those buyers often specify the high-end models that generate huge profits.

Automotive News quotes the letter from Ford to dealers as saying, "We understand the desire to get the customer units as quickly as possible, but do not want to compromise our commitment to quality for the sake of a few additional weeks of delivery."

The risk, besides lost profits during the first weeks of sales, is that delivery delays can send potential buyers to competitors' showrooms, or back to the sidelines for an extended time. The auto industry has decades of evidence showing vehicles that don't start life with roaring sales have trouble ever selling as many as they might. "You can't re-launch a vehicle," is the common attitude.

Loyalty in the pickup world is high, so that might not be a big worry. Still, any perceived threat to the launch of the radical new F-150 will make investors nervous, and Ford's stock could suffer.

Ford designed the truck to use lighter-weight aluminum body panels instead of heavier steel, to cut about 700 pounds of weight. That boosts fuel economy, which can be a big plus to business users and a strong lure to personal-use buyers.

It also allows Ford to boost the new truck's payload and towing ratings, so it can advertise higher numbers than rivals -- key selling points, even among truck buyers who neither tow nor haul routinely, but want their trucks to have the most "capability." It's somewhat like the top-speed or horsepower bragging rights among fast-car owners, or high-mileage ratings among hybrid owners.

Partly the F-150 needs a diet just to trim down and match rivals. The Ford truck has gotten generally heavier than its Ram, Chevrolet, GMC and Toyota competitors, though the numbers vary widely depending on specific model and equipment. A 700-lb. cut, though, is more than enough to even that out and still give Ford the mileage and rating advantages.

But aluminum's more costly than steel, and harder to handle during manufacturing. The result is a price boost of $395 on lower-end models, $895 on the Lariat premium version and more than $3,000 on the two luxury models, King Ranch and Platinum.

Ford says all models will have additional standard features worth more than the price hikes.