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GM readying aluminum-body fullsize pickups

Ford's extensive use of aluminum in its 2015 F-150 is a big deal. A really big deal. Big enough, in fact, that General Motors is reportedly changing its fullsize pickup strategy. According to The Wall Street Journal, The General has locked in partnerships with Alcoa Inc. and Novelis Inc. - companies that will supply aluminum for the next-generation Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks.
"Ford's introduction of the 2015 F-150 pickup truck was a game changer, and it's the first, not the last, conversion of this type," Novelis spokesperson Charles Belbin told the Journal. The switch to aluminum has allowed Ford to shave roughly 700 pounds off its fullsize truck's curb weight. And while official mileage ratings have not been announced, the weight loss should go a long way for improving efficiency, especially when combined other efficiency-minded improvements including better aerodynamics and new, turbocharged V6 engines.
Of course, aluminum-bodied cars are nothing new. But extensive use of aluminum in a major, best-selling product like the Ford F-150 is expected to kick off widespread use of this weight-saving material as availability rises and cost decreases. The WSJ reports that GM had originally explored the idea of moving to aluminum pickups back in 2008, but abandoned the idea due to cost concerns amid economic woes.

GM able to add diesel to half-ton pickups if market demands it

A few years ago, the trend in half-ton pickup trucks was ultra-luxurious trims, often with the words "limited" or "platinum" tacked on after the model name. That was well and good, but we like this latest fad a lot more - diesel engines. First, Ram came to bat with a 3.0-liter, V6 turbodiesel for the 1500, then Nissan announced that the next-generation Titan would be getting an eight-cylinder Cummins diesel.
Now, word is coming in from AutoGuide that General Motors can, if it so chooses, drop a diesel engine into its light-duty trucks. The plot thickens, though, as it turns out that said diesel would be the same one Ram is using for its truck. According to AG, that engine comes from VM Motori, which GM owns a sizable chunk of. Therefore, GM can snag the 3.0-liter, V6 diesel for its trucks just as easily, if not more easily, than Ram.
If it's so easy for the Detroit-based manufacturer to access the engines, why not offer the a diesel-powered Sierra and Silverado from the start, then? According to GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson, The General doesn't seem so confident in a diesel pickup outside of its HD offerings. According to Wilkinson, the cost-benefit ratio doesn't line up for customers, thanks to both the impact on the truck's sticker price and the higher price of diesel, in general (the national average for a gallon of diesel is 43 cents more than a gallon of 87-octane unleaded).

GMC Terrain headlight recall fix is a sticker

This GMC Terrain recall over a headlight issue has gone from fascinating to absurd. It started when GMC discovered the headlights on the 2010-2017 Terrain were out of compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). A pinpoint of low-beam light was being reflected off the high-beam reflector. This bounced a tiny sliver of bright light up into the trees and the sky beside the road, not into oncoming traffic. GMC did the right thing, reporting the noncompliance to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Because the sliver of light was coming from the low beams and was four times brighter than the maximum allowable low beam brightness, the NHTSA told GMC to recall 740,581 units of the SUV. GMC asked for an exemption, admitting the bright spot could cause glare while noting the errant beam didn't affect other road users. The automaker hadn't received any complaints, only a comment from one owner saying the lights put a bright spot in the trees on the other side of the road. The NHTSA denied the request. GMC began notifying owners in April that they'd need to come in for a fix once a fix had been developed. That's the fascinating part. The absurd part, which Tire Meets Road uncovered, is that the fix is a "Headlamp Applique Kit." Which is a piece of frosted tape applied to the outside of the headlight that lets low-beam light through and tamps down any potential glare from the caroming beam. Notice that the parallelogram of frosted tape matches the L-shaped frosted area along the inside of the headlight housing. That portion was already a feature of the lamp, as can be seen in our 2016 Terrain Denali Quick Spin. The repair needs a trip to the dealer for a tech to place a positioning template over the headlight and put the applique kit in the proper spot. GM's instruction kit says the whole thing should take 0.2 of an hour, or 12 minutes—about the time it it would take to get checked into and out of the dealership service department. Owners aren't impressed, some calling the fix unnecessary and ridiculous, and the tape should make it clear that GMC feels the same way. Some owners have said they're going to skip the recall. Those drivers will find that just as GMC couldn't escape the legal ramifications, neither can they. Local motor vehicle bureaus keep track of recall compliance.