I'm sorry to add my piece to this discussion. The biggest reason to remove the body, wheels, and tires is not material costs, but shipping. The volume of the new kit boxes is significantly smaller having removed those items, and manufacturers can save significantly on transport prices.
I just don’t see that being the case. The body is only slightly longer and only a bit wider than the chassis. I can understand the wheels as they are kinda bulky. My RC8T4 didn’t come with a body but there is plenty of space in the box for it with the rest of the parts as most of the parts will sit inside the body. Not to mention their RTR line of vehicles. Them boxes are pretty big. It has to have something to do with overall profit for the company but then again maybe they couldn’t strike deal with whatever body manufacturers they normally work with. I could be wrong as I am sometimes (according to my wife I’m always wrong). Regardless I’m sure that the new truck will shine really bright on the track just like all of its predecessors.