Sure is great to see good old American leadership at work but here are some interesting facts:
In 2002 Audi built thei 150,000th aluminum vehicle
In 1923 Audi experimented with alloy engines and auto bodies
http://www.audiworld.com/news/02/aluminum/content1.shtml
The once great American auto industry took risks, was creative and innovative.
But eventually it was a giant union manufacturer, and became totally risk-adverse.
Ford could be the best of the (once big) three, but is far from the industry leaders in Europe, Japan and even Korea.
I’m sure a Ford pickup at Audi pricing will be a huge hit.
There was a show on TV not long ago about some of the 1930s era auto racing and some of the terrible accidents. I remember Audi (Auto Union) was one of the really active participants.
One company built a race car out of magnesium. They showed film of it after a wreck. It caught on fire and they simply could not put it out. The driver didn’t have a chance.