2015 F150

[ElPaso Pilot]

Sure, and they damage easily and are expensive to replace. Like I said, I wonder what the actuaries will think of them. What I don't understand is why not more manufacturers have gone to snap on plastic panels, especially with full frame vehicles like trucks.

GM couldn't make the $$ work with Saturn, and the later lines reverted back to steel.

Cycle times are much, much slower than stamping, requiring additional $$ molding machines and tooling. Scrap rates due to molding defects are high on large parts. <Might> be feasible on lower volume vehicles, but the financials go to pot as volumes go up. F150 isn't low volume by any means.

Oh, and the weight savings were never there, due to the extent of the steel webbing required to support and fasten the panels in place so they don't creep and warp in the heat or flop in the breeze. Plastic provides little to no structural contribution for the mass it adds.

Plastic made more sense when styling dictated deep draws and shapes that couldn't be easily stamped without multiple secondaries.