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Chevrolet's marketing on the Competitions Aluminum construction

7K views 69 replies 45 participants last post by  Ed753 
#1 ·


 
#4 ·
cant watch vids as i am at work. but weight saving and cost of repair aside, the big deal to me is that aluminum does not rust like steel. look at some old silverados from around 2000 upstate NY and they are not doing so well. their powertrain outlast the body
 
#6 ·
Gotta come up with a PR spin when the competition is more innovative than you
 
#12 ·
Why Chevy still uses the old washed up mostly forgotten long to promote the Silverado is beyond me. I really don't see how he could ever help sale a truck. But could turn potential buyers away from the brand!
 
#15 ·
Because peoples most visible interaction with aluminum is in the form of an aluminum can people think that aluminum is this weak material. The funny thing is during WWII many fighters were made from aluminum and those planes had to deal with higher loads then modern day trucks.

At the end of the day Ford made a move that increase capacity by reducing vehicle mass and prices didn't go up by all that much. It is a move that depends on regular consumers not knowing the difference (and they probably do not know the difference). This is one of those things where if GM succeeds it might make the use of aluminum a toxic thing in trucks going forward probably something GM doesn't actually want to do.
 
#47 ·
Because peoples most visible interaction with aluminum is in the form of an aluminum can people think that aluminum is this weak material. The funny thing is during WWII many fighters were made from aluminum and those planes had to deal with higher loads then modern day trucks.

People have a poor grasp of chemistry, more at 11.

But you would think, I did think, knowledge that aluminum is both tough and light would be mainstream. This is something I knew from just being alive.
 
#20 ·
I can make aluminum as strong as steel, and I can make steel as light as aluminum. All that happened is that Ford marketed the hell out of it. This is still a pointless argument as either material can work to meet the need of a truck.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each material, Ford is just better at marketing it than GM. At least GM is now trying, a little later though.

I still won't by an F-150, and Aluminum has little to do with that.
 
#22 ·
Aluminium corrodes to Aluminium Oxide , iron (or steel) corrodes to Ferric Oxide (rust). Even the different grades of stainless rust given the right conditions. The big problem with aluminium is when you have it next to steel you have to have a barrier to stop electrolysis between the two metals.
How many of you have flown in an aeroplane made of steel? I don't think i have. Of course there will be parts made of steel (undercarriage parts particularly) but they are in the minority.
I think the major reason that aluminium was not used in cars was the difficulty in repairing damage ie specialty welding but now with a lot of HSS being used those parts should not be welded either so it means more vehicles are going to be written off so it doesn't matter whether it is aluminium or HSS. Is the idea that we will just write off vehicles and replace them -I hope not.
 
#31 ·
From a technical description of the MIG-25 Interceptor:

Because of the thermal stresses incurred in flight above Mach 2, the Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB had difficulties choosing what materials to use for the aircraft. They had to use E-2 heat-resistant Plexiglas for the canopy, and high-strength stainless steel for the wings and fuselage. Using titanium rather than steel would have been ideal, but it was expensive and difficult to work with. The problem of cracks in welded titanium structures with thin walls could not be solved, so the heavier nickel steel was used instead. It cost far less than titanium and allowed for welding, along with heat resistant seals.[7] The MiG-25 was constructed from 80% nickel steel alloy, 11% aluminium, and 9% titanium.[17] The steel components were formed by a combination of spot-welding, automatic machine welding and hand arc welding methods.

Yes, very rare in an aircraft, but not impossible.

Ford should hire a Dneiper A-400 cargo jet, change the color via technical post production processing to gray (mimic a C-5) and have a commercial where the "Military Grade" aluminum jet flies in and unloads Silverado after Silverado after Silverado...With the voiceover favorably comparing the A-400's construction to the F-150s
 
#25 · (Edited)
So Chevy intends to use prejudice instead of science to dispute F-150? The comic fan asked "Did they even study science?", how ironic is that? This reminds me of the "Man Step" ad. Overcoming lack of innovation by generating negativity around those innovations, therefore sitting on your hands and reducing your customer's intellect with FUD is all they need to do. It's classic advertising of course, but it's also blunt, obvious, and old fashioned...but very effective.

Of course, as anybody should know by now, F-150 uses an Aluminum alloy, it's a strong lighter metal...this is not tin-can aluminum...but whatever. There are no sacrifices being made, only gains afforded by lighter construction which includes greater towing, payload, corrosion durability, and yes...fuel efficiency. And if the F-150 is the bestselling vehicle in the nation, and will be for the foreseeable future, how unusual and costly will aluminum repairs remain over time? Especially once GM joins in.

It will be up to Ford to answer those doubts and I'm sure they will or already have.
 
#45 ·
This reminds me of the "Man Step" ad. Overcoming lack of innovation by generating negativity around those innovations, therefore sitting on your hands and reducing your customer's intellect with FUD is all they need to do. It's classic advertising of course, but it's also blunt, obvious, and old fashioned...but very effective.
And now GM has steps built into the corners of the bumpers.
 
#62 ·
Howie Long may resonate @ least more than well enough .... with small and larger Fleet customers.

Notice the timing of this relative to KC coming on line and the lower end build / fleet build availability this will provide for Ford.

Smart timing by GM - imo.
 
#28 ·
The cage ad was completely stupid, they claimed they were not actors, but nobody talks the way those people did in real life. And if someone sent a bear into an area with you and said you better pick a cage, those showed you a truck, would you imediatly laugh it off and be cool with it?

Sort of like that ad a few months ago where supposedly real people were put into Chevy vehicles and were asked what kind of vehicle it was and they were all impressed by how nice they were, but they didn't even cover up the Chevy emblems on the steering wheel. Even a non car person would recognize the badge, and they certainly wouldn't ask if it was a Lexus (IIRC) like in the ad. The Colorado ads with "real people" are just as full of chit.


And back to the aluminum, is GM going to forget about all these ads in a couple years when they switch the trucks over to aluminum? Will it then suddenly become better than steel when they do it? Sort of like their ads making fun of the step on the previous F150. Someone comes up with an interesting idea, play the GM game and mock it, then wait a year or two and come up with your own version, when suddenly the stupid idea is now genius?

I love GM, but these ads are ridiculous.
 
#33 ·
Oh man, those commercials were great.
700 lb Grizzly bear?
Can I get out of the cage now?

Aluminum Man!
His elbows are exposed,
What if he falls down?
But he's more efficient.

Come on yall, Ford vs. Chevy aside,
who wouldn't want a job creating videos like that?
 
#34 ·
Look people, it's just a jab, a silly commercial, get over it. There is a lot of butt hurt going on so I guess it struck a nerve? Are we upset that the Silverado outsold the F150 in retail sales last month perhaps? The ones spouting how they are saving these adds incase GM switches to aluminum are hilarious, wow you'll sure show them!
 
#40 ·
Look people, it's just a jab, a silly commercial, get over it. There is a lot of butt hurt going on so I guess it struck a nerve? Are we upset that the Silverado outsold the F150 in retail sales last month perhaps? The ones spouting how they are saving these adds incase GM switches to aluminum are hilarious, wow you'll sure show them!
Do you have a link to that, I would like to read!

Thanks,
Ed
 
#37 ·
I think, after actually seeing the "ads", the only one that would have any real meaning to anyone would be the one where Howie Long shows the F150 takes longer to repair and may cost more in insurance. Other than that, they should show how the Silverado is superior! I live with
my Sierra and I can tell you the corner step is great! There's no contraption you have to deploy, which takes time by the way, you just step and go. It really is a very elegant solution regardless of what the haters say!
 
#54 · (Edited)
Exactly! These are funny, clever and entertaining marketing videos until GM makes the same move towards aluminum in a few years then it will be embarrassing. This kind of reminds me of how GM was marketing towards Toyota owners a few years ago during Toyota’s unintended acceleration issues, which was a BS witch hunt by Obama’s Ray LaHood anyway that amounted to absolutely zero conclusive findings other than dragging Toyota's name through the mud. It was ****y of GM to market against Toyota during a obvious hard time for them only to later run into a GENUINE recall mess of their own ….shall we say “ignition switches”. As much as I love GM, this kind of crap pisses me off when they do arrogant marketing stunts. GM already has a huge negative perception issue with the general population of non-gearheads and marketing that later bites them in the arse later doesn't help them any.
 
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