It doesn't take a genius to see the slow and steady march of progress in our industry. It wasn't long ago when the first imported compact cars made it to our shores, then the midsize cars, then the luxury cars. Additionally, we've seen some of the more traditionally American automotive segments, like the full-size pickup-truck market, peppered with new import rivals, offering their own unique spins on the definition. We saw Toyota politely enter the pickup-truck market with the T100 and downsized Tundra. Nissan finally came to the heart of the segment with a full-size-effort King Cab and Crew Cab. Honda tossed in its four-door entry with a few clever engineering solutions.
The last two sell in fairly small numbers. Nissan says it's happy with 60,000 sales per year, and Honda says it's content with 40,000. It's more likely both manufacturers were hoping for double those actual sales numbers. And why shouldn't they? In a country where the appetite for full-size pickup trucks is bigger than any other trackable automotive segment, who wouldn't think the sales for a good import pickup truck would be better? No doubt, recent issues such as oil supply and fluctuating prices, not to mention the Hollywood bandwagon throwing its sizeable belly behind the push for hybrid vehicles, had an impact on light-duty pickup-truck and full-size-SUV sales. In fact, by some research and depending how you cut it, the volume for the full-size truck segment is down 10 to 20 percent year-to-year. This may stall, if not completely kill, any OE's plans for another new full-size pickup truck for the segment.
However, this downturn isn't true for every piece of the full-size pickup-truck segment. In fact, if there's been a recession/global-politics-proof segment in the U.S., it's the heavy-duty work-truck category. Typically not a huge number of units sold, but always a consistent player in overall U.S. sales. Considering how dependent our construction industry and local municipality infrastructure are on these types of 3/4- and one-ton pickup trucks, it's no surprise the heavier-duty light-duty pickup trucks always have strong sales. This is Super Duty, Silverado HD, Sierra HD, and Ram HD territory. And with the recent federal and state emission regulation changes, all three big players--Ford, General Motors, and Dodge--have made significant upgrades to their intercooled and turbocharged diesel options as well as their design and packaging. All three manufacturers typically sell more turbodiesel HDs than they do those equipped with gasoline engines. This translates into a healthier price tag, which means more gross profit--always an important thing for a truck maker but for some an absolutely critical issue nowadays.
With all this new regulation and technology, you'd expect more attention focused on this segment. Truck Trend is going to get the party started with the issue you are now holding. Just because each of these manufacturers has something new this year, don't think they'll be resting on their laurels: Expect a lot of action in this segment, especially since the most challenging emissions regulations kick in around 2010. These requirements will either force a lot of experimentation and research (meaning money) into the clean-diesel arena, or it just might kill personal-use diesels in pickups and SUVs altogether.
If companies like Toyota and Nissan want to get into the 3/4- and one-ton marketplace, they're going to have to bring some technological breakthrough to the table and overdeliver to a buyer in this segment. To their credit, Toyota and Nissan have strong ties to commercial-truck operations, as does Mercedes-Benz. Don't forget about some of the Korean companies like Kia and Hyundai (again, both with strong commercial, ship-building ties). These companies have already proven they can dissect and reproduce a segment player on par with anyone. And what better way to establish real pickup-truck credibility than to start with a heavy-duty model, maybe one with several diesel choices, to go head to head (presumably at a cheaper price) in the last all-American automotive segment in existence?
The light-duty segment was America's final stronghold. Now it might be the bigger work-truck segment. But for how long?
Our new "Designated Driver" column will be a pivotal feature for this magazine for years to come. We're going behind the scenes at each of the big truck and aftermarket companies to find the real truck guys who are designing, building, and developing the vehicles we love as well as the ones we'll see down the road. Bringing real truck guys straight to a real-truck-guy audience is something no other magazine can do.
Each person we offer the invitation to-- Ford, Chevy, or Dodge guy--naturally will have his own biases. But if we can get real truck guys who make trucks together with real truck guys who drive and live with trucks, there are genuine learning opportunities here.
Feel free to take our guests to task--but please do it respectfully. After all, Truck Trend has never been a one-way street. That's why we have our letters column. Look for great things ahead as we bring these people out from the shadows and into the forefront. You'll get some insight into where these pickups and SUVs come from and who's responsible.