| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : APRIL 26, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| PERSONAL BUSINESS
You Call This the Family Car? Pickups with roomy cabs become a status accessory When families hit the road this summer for vacation, more of them will be piling into trucks. Not sport-utility vehicles, mind you. Pickup trucks. The workhorse that farmers, ranchers, and construction workers have long made the top-selling vehicle in the U.S. is now a status accessory in the suburbs. The change in image has led to a surge in sales. In the past five years, pickups have gained two additional points of market share--a huge gain in Detroit terms--hitting 19% of total light vehicle sales in 1998, when nearly 3 million pickups were sold. Notes Toyota Motor Sales USA Senior Vice-President James Press: ''The growth in the truck market isn't because of a sudden increase in the number of farmers.'' To accommodate families, pickups now boast extended cabs that can transport your entire household. But Dad is still the prime buyer, says Dave Bostwick, DaimlerChrysler's director of corporate market research. He's the guy who yearns for a macho truck and can now rationalize that by getting a people-hauler, too. ''If [a car] doesn't fit the family, it becomes a self-indulgence,'' Bostwick says. ''But this lets you be a family person and a cowboy, too.'' A truck can certainly be a practical choice. An extended cab pickup can carry six. There's plenty of room in the truck bed for cargo, from hockey equipment to an armoire from the antiques market. And you can get all this with such sedan-style amenities as heated leather seats, a top-of-the-line audio system, and even a console that holds a laptop and cell phone. Of course, many of these goodies are also available on SUVs, which remain a popular family choice. Because pickups and SUVs share the same truck chassis, their ride and handling are similar. SUVs hold the advantage for secure, enclosed storage. Until pickup cabins grew larger, SUVs also had roomier, more comfortable seating. TRENDY. But practicality isn't everything. Pickups, like SUVs, are selling because they're trendy. Witness the numbers of leather- and chrome-trimmed pickups lined up for valet parking from Beverly Hills to Boston. ''It's cool to pull up in this massive vehicle, whether it's to a top-class restaurant or the loading dock,'' says Wesley Brown, an analyst for auto consultants Nextrend in Thousand Oaks, Calif. The pickup is making inroads in the burbs at the expense of sedans and minivans. ''It's amazing the number of moms with a couple of kids who end up taking home a supercab pickup,'' says Rob Kanaby, sales manager of Flemington Car & Truck Country in Flemington, N.J. ''Cars have become obsolete, as far as families are concerned.'' Price is also a draw. For around $20,000, the same as a prosaic Ford Taurus or Honda Accord, Brown notes ''you get rear-wheel-drive, a V-8 engine, and a vehicle that's fun to drive--with better features, options, and quality.'' But if you want a four-wheel-drive model with maximum hauling power and all the trimmings, the price can climb past $36,000. Luxury sport-utilities can top $65,000, though loaded-up midsize SUVs run about $35,000. Buyers are also drawn to pickups because they feel safer. Although high-riding trucks, like SUVs, are more prone to roll over in an accident or sudden turn, drivers sit higher for a clearer view of the road. In a crash, occupants are protected by more steel. The pickups do have drawbacks. Their seating area is less generous than that of a minivan or jumbo SUVs like the Chevy Suburban or the Ford Expedition. And in urban areas, cargo stored in a pickup bed without pricey covers is a sitting duck for thieves. ''In New York, if you put things in the back and stop at a light, it's not there any more,'' says Long Island City, N.Y., Chevy dealer Bruce Bendell. That's why his customers prefer SUVs with enclosed cargo spaces. DUTCH DOORS. It has taken a decade for the pickup to evolve into a family vehicle. First, carmakers began building enlarged cabs offering a back seat. Crude at first, with buckboard-hard bench seats that could only be reached by crawling in from the front, these extended cabs were nonetheless a hit. The big breakthrough came three years ago, when manufacturers added a passenger-side rear door, making back-seat access easier. Unlike the front door, the rear door has hinges at the back, so the two together open like Dutch doors. ''The third door expanded the market to more buyers,'' especially to former car owners, says Ford Motor brand strategy manager Paul Morel. But why stop there? Ford's (F) F-series and DaimlerChrysler's (DCX) Dodge Ram full-size pickups now offer four-door cabs--the better for carting around the kids or for the driver to toss a briefcase into the back. Wildly popular, the Ram's four-door Club Cab starts at $20,630--$795 more than the two-door Club Cab. In November, Dodge will launch a version of its midsize Dakota pickup with four doors, all front-hinged, that open sedan-style. Ford made the four doors standard on its SuperCab pickups, which start at $18,480 for the F-150--$2,685 more than the two-door standard cab. Other manufacturers plan to capitalize on the four-door craze. When Toyota's (TOYOY) big Tundra pickup hits showrooms this summer, it, too, will sport a full complement of doors. Even GM (GM), whose new full-size Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra have just three doors, says a fourth is coming soon. Once they could reach the back seat handily, customers began to look for more comfort there. The new Silverado and Sierra models boast rear seats with backs that recline slightly and more padding and leg support--a feature GM dealers say is proving popular. Overall, even the best rear legroom in a pickup is a couple of inches shorter than an SUV's, but that gap is narrowing fast. If this array of ''king cabs,'' ''super cabs,'' ''crew cabs,'' and ''quad cabs'' still isn't big enough for you, hold on. Detroit is gearing up to supersize them. Prepare for truck cabs that are essentially sport-utility bodies with pickup beds attached. Where will the truck go next? Experts say the next trend will be pickups and SUVs based on car chassis. If that comes to pass, the family truck will again become the family car. By Kathleen Kerwin EDITED BY AMY DUNKIN _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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