Truck Market: Size Matters
Size matters. That is what auto trend is trying to imply. So the bigger a pickup truck is, the heavier it is, the more gas it guzzles, and the pricier it is, the better it seems to be selling.
Demands for the Ford Motor Co.’s F-150 are pouring in. Perhaps, the variant intends to hold onto its long-term title as the best-selling pickup around the globe. General Motors Corp., meanwhile, said that its biggest Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups are among its steadiest sellers. The Toyota, on the other hand, could not make enough of its cavernous Tundra Crew Max. The Chrysler Group said that the Dodge Ram Mega Cab sales are brisk. The pickup market also has welcomed one promising competitor - the Nissan has just rushed a long-bed version of its full-size Titan.
Amid the escalating gas prices, it seems that pickup shoppers do not care a bit whether they are purchasing gas-guzzlers. Obviously, gasoline price is not a big issue in the segment.
There apparently are a lot of people out there who can afford them, And that’s what they want. It was found that shoppers want maximum luxury, V-8 power, and uncompromised utility.
Dodge does not seem to be a solid hit like Ford and GM, but the growth in the company’s truck sales is also at the high end. Four-door models are the fastest-growing and highest-volume part of the light-duty pickup segment and account for about 45 percent of all light-duty truck purchases. And the trend over the past several years has been growing popularity of trucks that offer more and more amenities along with capability.
Toyota said that it was shocked to find that sales of the CrewMax were way beyond expectations. It means no incentives are necessary to bolster sales of the pickup. As such, production at Toyota’s new San Antonio, Tex., plant was shifted away from the smallest regular-cab models to more CrewMax models.
