One of the challenges new cars and light trucks face is whether
they can jump the hurdle of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
tests. Vehicles which do not pass are at a distinct disadvantage to
those which do. The data are carefully followed by many car buyers.
And Ford (NYSE: F) needs support for its new F-150 which is built
partially with aluminum as a means to lower weight and presumably
gas mileage.
In the tests:
The aluminum-body 2015 Ford F-150 crew cab swept the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety’s full slate of crashworthiness
evaluations to qualify for a 2015 Top Safety Pick award. The F-150
extended cab turned in a good performance in 4 of 5 assessments but
stumbled in the small overlap front test. The results are the first
ratings for large pickups in a group the Institute is evaluating
this year.
The news was not all good for Ford:
The F-150 crew cab, which Ford calls the SuperCrew, earns good
ratings for occupant protection in all five IIHS crashworthiness
evaluations — small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side,
roof strength and head restraint evaluations. The extended cab, or
SuperCab, earns good ratings in the moderate overlap front, side,
roof strength and head restraint evaluations but just a marginal
rating for occupant protection in a small overlap front crash.
Many vehicles tested do not get “marginal ratings” on any
portion of the tests.
Competitors are likely to seize on another issue which the tests
concluded:
Since the F-150 is a unique vehicle with its aluminum body, the
Institute also looked at repair costs for the 2015 model. Damage to
aluminum body parts can be more complicated and pricier to repair
than steel, analyses by the Highway Loss Data Institute have
shown.
GM’s (NYSE: GM) Chevy division has already begun to question
repair costs of the F-150 compared to its Silverado.
According to CBS News:
In online ads — one of which features National Football League
hall of famer and broadcaster Howie Long — Chevrolet suggests that
aluminum isn’t as strong as steel and that insurance costs are
probably higher for the aluminum F-150.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests will lend
credence to this GM argument.
Ford needs consumers to believe that the F-150 is not only safe
but has repair costs similar to its competitors. Over the first
half of the year, sales of Ford’s flagship have faltered. They
dropped 2.4% for the period to 357,180. Sales of the Chevy
Silverado rose 14.6% to 275,822. Ford management claims two factors
to its advantage this year. One is that production of the aluminum
truck started slowly in the early portion of the year. As that
production pick up, availability will match demand. The other is
that consumers pay much more for the F-Series than they do for
direct competitors
However, whatever case Ford makes, the F-Series has been the
best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for decades. And, its unit sales
are about 20% of all cars and trucks sold by Ford. Safe matters.
Now Ford will find out if repair costs trump a new, mostly good
piece of news.
Methodology:
IIHS tests evaluate two aspects of safety: crashworthiness — how
well a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash — and crash
avoidance and mitigation — technology that can prevent a crash or
lessen its severity.
To determine crashworthiness, IIHS rates vehicles good,
acceptable, marginal or poor, based on performance in five tests:
moderate overlap front, small overlap front, side, roof strength
and head restraints. In the area of crash avoidance and mitigation,
IIHS assigns vehicles with available front crash prevention systems
ratings of basic, advanced or superior, based on the type of system
and performance in track tests.
By Douglas A. McIntyre
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