Ford sees gas mileage gains in new F-150 pickups

Ford's bold move to cut hundreds of pounds of weight out of the nation's best-selling vehicle, its F-150 pickup truck, will improve gas mileage, but maybe not enough to sway truck buyers and impress investors.

Ford switched from a steel to an aluminum body for the 2015 version of the full-size pickup, saving up to 700 pounds per truck in a bid to improve gas mileage. But when Ford released the fuel economy estimates Friday, the gas-mileage gain was limited to no more than 2 miles per gallon on a combined city-highway driving basis when comparing similar engines.

"I sense a fairly industrywide level of disappointment," says Karl Brauer, analyst for Kelley Blue Book. Ford, he says, may suffer from creating "lots of buildup" around dramatic weight reduction, then posting modest fuel-mileage gains.

The Ford F-150 with the best fuel economy will one that comes equipped with a new smaller, turbocharged engine, the 2.7-liter EcoBoost. It is rated at 19 miles per gallon in the city, 26 mpg on the highway and an average of 22 mpg. But it will still fall short of the industry's fuel economy leader in the category, the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, which has a combined rating of 23 mpg. Ford, however, points out that the higher cost of diesel fuel will more than offset any potential savings.

Ford says 2015 trucks will get 5% to 29% in fuel economy improvements over the outgoing versions depending on engine and configuration. But the comparisons aren't necessarily comparing the same engines. Ford says the 29% improvement compares the 2.7-liter turbocharged engine to a 5-liter V-8. It's a fair comparison, the automaker says, because owners will see similar performance.

And, Ford points out, the comparisons aren't all apples-to-apples: Many of its trucks also saw maximum payload and towing improvements aside from the gas-mileage gains.

Ford shocked the hidebound truck world -- and its own investors -- when it announced the decision to move from steel to aluminum, which previously had been found mostly on luxury cars. But even the overall gains may seem modest, every improvement will help when it comes to trying to meet increasingly stringent federal corporate average fuel economy standards.

The gas-mileage estimates didn't have much effect on Ford stock Friday. Ford closed at $15.43, down 3 cents a share for the day.

Here are some of the fuel economy estimates, which are are reported to the Environmental Protection Agency, on the two-wheel-drive versions:

•The 2.7-liter turbocharged EcoBoost V-6 engine will get 19 miles per gallon in the city, 26 mpg on the highway and 22 mpg overall. This engine is new.

•The 3.5-liter turbocharged EcoBoost V-6 engine will get 17 mpg in the city, 24 mpg on the highway for an average of 20 mpg. The same engine in the outgoing model gets 16 mpg in the city, 22 on the highway for an average of 18 mpg.

•The 3.5-liter non-turbocharged V-6 will get 18 mpg in the city, 25 mpg on the highway and 20 mpg overall. It replaces a 3.7-liter V-6 that got 17 mpg in the city, 23 mpg on the highway and 19 mpg overall.

•The 5-liter non-turbocharged V-8 will get 15 mpg in the city, 22 mpg on the highway and 18 mpg overall. The outgoing model with the same engine saw 15 mpg in the city, 21 mpg on the highway and 17 mpg average.

--Contributing: James R. Healey