Also on the drawing board is a special four-door Lincoln pickup truck code-named Blackwood due out possibly in calendar 2000, analysts said.

The U.S. No. 2 automaker plans to build two versions of an aluminum-based vehicle at Dearborn Assembly, part of the company's sprawling Rouge manufacturing complex, said Alan Baum, director of North American Forecasting for IRN Inc., a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based consulting firm.

Code-named the D219, The vehicles are based on a carplatform. One would be more like a wagon and the other would resemble the more rugged look of an all-activity utility vehicle, Baum said.

The vehicles, sold under the Mercury nameplate, would be introduced in 2002 and 2003, he said, estimating annual volume would be in the 70,000 range. However, thetrade publication Automotive News reported on Monday that volumes would be in the 100,000 range the first year and 200,000-plus the second. The vehicles would be targeted at the North American market, the paper said.

One issue affecting volumes would be the price of aluminum, said Baum. Aluminum can cost between two and four Times as much as steel, analysts said.

"If they can get through the cost penalty we might see higher volumes," he said.

Ford spokesman Jon Harmon declined to comment on the future aluminum products, but he added the company plans to increase the amount of lighter-weight materials in its products. Ford currently leads the auto industry in how much aluminum it uses, he said, with more than 200 pounds per vehicle on average. Vehicles that use aluminum include the Taurus sedan and F-150 full-size pickup truck, which have aluminum hoods.

Ford currently builds the Mustang Sports coupe at Dearborn, although Baum said that will eventually be shifted to Wixom Assembly in Wixom,Michigan.

Union officials at the Rouge complex last year approved contract changes that call for Ford to invest $2 billion in upgrades. Ford has declined to specify the investment.

Separately, Ford is considering dropping the Mountaineer infavour of a compact sport utility vehicle that would be sold as a Lincoln, said Jim Hall, vice president of industry analysis for Auto Pacific Inc's Southfield, Michigan office.

A dressed-up version of the Ford Explorer, the Mountaineer was introduced in 1996 to give the Lincoln Mercury division its first entry in the booming sport utility segment.

In working on the next Explorer, Hall said Ford has moved upscale with features such as independent rear suspension to compete with the vehicles such as the Mercedes-Benz M-Class. Because Lincoln Mercury vehicles are sold through the same dealer outlets, Ford could substitute a higher-priced Lincoln for the Mountaineer without depriving dealers.

Lincoln has had huge success with the Navigator, a luxury full-size sportutility version of the Ford Expedition that analysts estimate generates pretax profits of $15,000 each.

In yet another move, Ford plans to offer a first-ever Lincoln pickup truck built from its popular F-150 full-size pickup truck, Hall said.

The truck, offering four full doors and a smaller-than-normal pickup bed, would go on sale in 2000. Volumes would be about 7,000 the first year, moving up to 10,000 the second year.

Although Ford division dealers have expressed some worry about losing profitable truck capacity, James Sinclair, president of Dave Sinclair Lincoln Mercury in St. Louis, said Lincoln Mercury dealers are looking forward to expanding the profitable truck line.