It’s no secret Chevrolet has been cashing in on poking fun at Ford’s aluminum-bodied F-150. It’s been going on for a while now, with videos and advertisements showing how the Silverado is supposedly stronger than the F-150. Well, Chevy’s latest commercial series feels like political attack ads against the “other guy.”
The videos, followed by a slew of social media and other advertisements, shows the Silverado and F-150 getting landscaping blocks dropped into their beds. These pointy concrete blocks scratch and dent both cargo beds, but with dramatically more damage done to the F-150’s stamped aluminum bed. In fact, the F-150’s bed suffers several punctures, creating holes in the bed floor.
The block drop might not be an overly scientific test, but laboratory testing with actual equipment shows the aluminum is more prone to puncture damage than the steel. The results are confirmed with Chevy’s second barrage of testing – this time with a heavy toolbox getting pushed off the bedrails and falling corner-first onto the bed floor. Chevy say out of 14 demonstrations, the Silverado’s bed suffered only two punctures compared to 13 punctures in the F-150’s bed.
These videos are certainly designed to create doubt in consumers’ minds about Ford’s choice of aluminum construction in the cargo bed. It also creates serious doubt in the rumors regarding Chevy’s switch to aluminum for the next generation of Silverado. Perhaps that’s why Chevy was conducting the tests – to further research whether it would switch to aluminum in the future. Either way, Chevy is hitting hard at Ford’s move to aluminum in the F-150.
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Why It Matters
The full-size pickup category is a hot market, with Ford, Chevy, and Ram continuing to be the leading three, with Toyota and Nissan trailing behind. Ford still racks up the largest sales numbers of the bunch, but Chevy is always close behind. Clinching a sales stat victory over Ford would mean huge bragging rights and an end to Ford’s 39-year reign. These steel vs. aluminum videos are just the latest in a long, long list of advertisements against Ford. But hey, healthy competition is always a good thing.
Nevertheless, Chevy’s dedication to denouncing the F-150’s aluminum body structure is relentless and is starting to sound like a broken record. Is there anything else Chevy can boast about?
2016 Chevrolet Silverado
Read our full review on the 2016 Chevrolet Silverado here.