Automakers are scrambling to add features like cooled seats and heated steering wheels as shoppers show the sky's the limit for what people will pay for a pickup. Prices for luxury pickups can top $70,000.
"I've had Porsches, and this truck is the best vehicle I've ever owned. It's just a dream, said Jack Lockhart of his $69,305 Ford F-450 King Ranch heavy-duty pickup. "They can take the keys from my cold, dead fingertips."
The retired University of California Irvine telecom specialist and his wife have logged 10,000 miles in their mammoth rig since May.
Ford and GMC pioneered the segment more than a decade ago with special editions like the F-150 Harley-Davidson and Sierra Denali.
"Our customers feel good about being successful, and they want people to know it," said John Swanson, a salesman at Somerset Buick GMC in Troy.
Luxury pickup models are proliferating, and the industry wants in on the action.
Chevrolet created a new high-end package called the High Country for its 2014 Silverado pickup. Prices start at $45,100, even before buyers add options such as a power sunroof and DVD/BluRay player for the rear-seat entertainment system.
Toyota has added two deluxe versions of its Tundra full-size pickup — one with a Western theme, the other targeted at buyers along the east and west coasts. Prices start at $47,230.
"Automakers profit hugely" from luxury pickups, said Jim Hall, managing director of 2953 Analytics. "The incremental cost of adding the new materials and features is way short of what they can charge for the trucks."
The features automakers pack into this new generation of luxury pickups seem limited only by designers' imaginations. Ram's Laramie Longhorn boasts rare wood trim with a unique grain created when the walnut trees grew around strands of barbed wire on a cattle ranch.
"We have not discovered if there's a ce! iling to this market," Ford truck group marketing manager Doug Scott said. "We anticipated the Platinum model would be 3% of F-150 sales. It's been more than twice that."
Prices for a four-wheel drive 2013 F-150 Platinum start at $50,225. Ford offers five premium trim levels — Lariat, Platinum, King Ranch, Limited and the SVT Raptor off-road sport truck.
"Ford segments the market very finely to suit the individual buyer," said Bob Wheat, general sales manager of Village Ford in Dearborn. "People who spend that kind of money on a truck like to personalize it."
There's no Harley-Davidson model yet, but don't be surprised if the deluxe package that started the luxury pickup bonanza in 1999 returns.
"It makes sense for automakers to capitalize on their core customers' desire for more luxurious, better-equipped trucks," said Edmunds.com senior analyst Jessica Caldwell.
Luxury models account for 30% of F-150 sales and more than half of Ford's bigger and more profitable Super Duty medium-duty pickups.
Sales of Ram luxury models have nearly tripled (up 162%) since 2009, said Bob Hegbloom, chief of Chrysler's Ram brand.
"I don't know if we've seen the upper end of the trend yet," Hegbloom said. Ram has sold 37% more of its luxury models this year compared with 25% for Ram overall and 23% for the total pickup market.
"Pickups have really evolved over the last decade," said Mike Sweers, chief engineer of the Toyota Tundra. "Capability is still the No. 1 reason people buy pickups, but people want the same level of comfort and features they get in luxury cars and SUVs."
While other automakers use multiple trim levels to appeal to luxury-minded truck buyers around the country, GM has two different brands. The GMC Sierra Denali has a large and loyal following, accounting for about 16% of Sierra sales.
Hot Safest Stocks To Invest In 2016
"It's roomy, quiet and comfor! table," S! ierra marketing manager Kenn Bakowski said. "That appeals to affluent people who can buy any vehicle and need the functionality of a pickup."
Chevy added the Silverado High Country "because our customers were ready to move up" in price, said Lloyd Biermann, Chevrolet pickup marketing manager. About 30% of Chevy's full-size pickups already sold for more than $40,000.
"It makes sense to give loyal Chevrolet customers a place to move up to," Biermann said.
No comments:
Post a Comment