By Mike Colias
General Motors Co. plans to use costly but lightweight carbon
fiber to make the beds on premium versions of large pickup trucks,
according to people familiar with the strategy, as the auto maker
aims to stay competitive in the crucial category while also
satisfying tightening fuel-economy standards.
The change, which the people say is expected to be implemented
within two years, is likely to increase the cost of the pickups,
testing GM's ability to charge a hefty premium.
However, it would help the auto maker comply with the new
regulatory standards by making the vehicles lighter and therefore
more fuel-efficient.
GM also is trying to keep innovating in the face of other moves
by rivals. Ford Motor Co. in 2014 launched aluminum-bodied F-150
pickup trucks, which GM criticized in advertisements by questioning
whether aluminum is as durable as the steel that auto makers
conventionally used to build work trucks.
Pickup sales represent about 16% of the U.S. market, but
delivered the bulk of the $25 billion in operating profit Detroit's
Big Three auto makers earned in North America last year, according
to analysts. J.D. Power estimates GM's large pickups fetch $43,220
on average, up about 30% from five years ago, but below the $45,000
transactions on Ford's F-Series.
"I think you're going to see GM go all out on this truck," said
Dave Sullivan, an analyst at AutoPacific Inc. "It's a fight to keep
these products relevant in a changing regulatory environment. They
can't afford to have a miss."
Carbon fiber, which today is reserved mostly for exotic sports
cars, could deliver an advantage to GM because it is significantly
stronger than steel or aluminum, but also far lighter. The
composite, however, is much costlier and more complicated to
produce than other materials, adding pressure to Detroit's effort
to charge more for products that already have risen well into
luxury-car territory.
GM will unveil redesigned versions of its next-generation
full-size pickup trucks -- the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra -- in
coming weeks, and will start selling those models at dealerships
next autumn, without a carbon-fiber box available, the people said.
The carbon-fiber pickup box is under development and expected to be
offered on higher-priced pickup trucks in late 2019, the people
said. Plans could change if the project hits technical or cost
hurdles, the people said.
A GM spokesman declined to discuss future product plans.
Development of the new trucks slated for sale next year -- along
with several large SUVs such as the Chevy Suburban that will use
the same underpinnings -- consumed a few billion dollars and took
several years. They will use a patchwork of materials to balance
cost and regulatory concerns, including aluminum doors and a
high-strength steel cabin, the people said.
GM and Ford in recent years have joined with carbon-fiber
producers to accelerate its readiness for applications in the
broader market. GM and Tokyo-based Teijin Ltd. teamed up in 2011,
for instance, and Ford entered a joint venture with carbon-fiber
manufacturer DowAksa in 2015.
GM sells about 800,000 full-size pickups annually, and its use
of carbon fiber, even if initially confined to higher-priced
models, could push broader adoption in the auto industry.
Trucks represent a unique challenge for Detroit. Buyers expect
ample power to haul boats and construction gear, but regulators are
demanding more efficient designs over the next seven years to
reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and improve fuel economy. That
thinking underpinned Ford's use of aluminum for the market-leading
F-Series, which Environmental Protection Agency officials have said
they see as already nearly meeting 2025 fuel-economy standards.
GM plans to add other features to its trucks to help hit
fuel-economy targets, including a new diesel engine and hybrid
version, the people said.
Auto makers have been using steel and aluminum in large
quantities for more than a century. Carbon-fiber production, by
contrast, involves a painstaking weaving of carbon into a fabric,
which is combined using a glue-like chemical and hardened into
parts.
Carbon fiber is at least 50-75% lighter than steel and 20-50%
lighter than aluminum, depending on the type, according to Ducker
Worldwide, a materials consultancy that works with auto makers. It
would improve dent resistance and give GM a differentiating feature
in the fierce realm of truck marketing, said Richard Schultz, a
metals expert at Ducker.
GM's use "would overshadow any other use of carbon fiber in the
auto industry if they could pull that off," Mr. Schultz said.
Because the process requires expensive equipment and takes much
longer than making stamped metal or aluminum, GM likely will have
fully formed parts shipped from a supplier to its truck plants, he
said.
GM has experimented with plastics on pickup beds before. In 2001
it offered a pickup-truck box made of a composite material, though
not carbon fiber, as an $850 option on the Silverado. But it was
discontinued in 2003 after being hampered by quality problems and
sales fell far short of targets, according to industry researcher
Wardsauto.com.
Some high-end cars already use substantial amounts of carbon
fiber including Ford's $450,000 GT supercar, BMW AG's i3 electric
vehicle and Audi AG's R8.
Write to Mike Colias at Mike.Colias@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 06, 2017 08:14 ET (13:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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