It’s Official: Chevy Will Begin Making Aluminum Silverados

2016 Chevrolet Silverado (Credit: Chevrolet )

A number of reputable sources in the automotive world are all reporting the same thing: Chevy will start making aluminum Silverados in the near future. The use of the lightweight metal reportedly won’t be limited to the Silverado, but also will be applied to the Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade and probably more GM SUVs.

Those of you who have good memories probably recall that not that long ago Chevy was making fun of Ford for using aluminum to build the new F-150. While it might seem hypocritical to then turn around and begin ramping up to create an aluminum truck, it’s actually… hypocritical.

In all honesty, GM is a big, confusing company where decisions are made in different compartments. It looks like the marketing team forgot to speak with the designers and engineers for the Silverado before making all of those ridiculous insinuations that aluminum isn’t a safe material to use in a truck. Now, Chevy’s going to have to work overtime to eat those words, and will forever be asked if a grizzly bear will be able to tear into their trucks.

Lest anyone think that the new Silverados and various SUVs will have an all-aluminum structure, the truth is that high-strength steel will also be included in a big way. To get ready for the new manufacturing procedures, GM has reportedly invested $877 million to retool its factory in Flint, Michigan.

The GM aluminum bonanza won’t stop with trucks and SUVs, at least that’s what Automotive News is saying. The same techniques are supposed to be applied to the Cadillac CT6.

Right now, there’s been quite a few accusations that the new F-150 is expensive to repair, thanks to the use of aluminum in it structure. Ford says those claims are false or erroneous. The question is GM will be able to help alleviate those concerns. It certainly seems that it has allowed Ford to go first and take all of the heat for doing something scary and different, allowing GM to reap the benefits. Likely Fiat Chrysler will be forced to start using aluminum for the Ram brand. Welcome to the future of trucks.