I just read today in the local Los Angeles Times that GM is shuting down four major truck and SUV plants across the US becasue the sales of these units is off by as much as 30% and GM has relied way to heavily on these vehicles for profits in the years past. They and other American vehicle manufacturers have all but forgottent he car market becasue there were far greater profits in high fuel consuming light trucks and SUV's.
So is that shame on the US automakers? Or is that nearsightedness on all American's part and not really believing we would soon face an economic recession? I can tell you this. While I would love to drive a vehicle that pulled down 25mpg whether it was a truck or not, does that seem reasonable?
If the government has its way, which is typically the case, by 2015 I believe it is all light trucks and SUV's will need to maintain a 20 mpg average if I recall. What does that mean from a building standpoint? It means even less and less metal will be found in that actual truck. As it stands right now, go down the side or inside the engine compartment of today's new trucks and SUVs with a magnet and discover how little actual metal is being used in todays vehicles.
A small list of commonly found plastic parts on vehicles today:
air intakes
air cleaners
bumpers
grilles
radiators
bumper brackets
radiator core supports
These are just a few. I'm sure you can probably name at least 25 more. What do you think about this?