| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : APRIL 26, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
| ||||||||
 | ||||||||
| PERSONAL BUSINESS
SUV in Front, Pickup in Back Can't decide whether you want a sport-utility vehicle or a pickup? Not to worry. Carmakers are designing hybrids that graft the front of an SUV onto a pickup bed. Expected in showrooms within the year, these crossovers will offer the ultimate in versatility--a sport-ute's roomy seating with the cargo-hauling space of a short truck bed. ''This is the birth of a new segment,'' says Ford design chief J Mays. Then again, versatility is in the eye of the beholder. The trucks will take up about as much parking space as a pickup without the room in back for the standard 4-by-8-foot plywood sheet. Still, truck makers think they can woo jaded SUV customers by offering them something different. Cleverest of the new category-busters is Nissan's SUT (for sport utility truck) concept vehicle. A hatch in the back of the cabin opens onto the truck bed, allowing for longer cargo, say, two-by-fours, a palm tree, or skis. Nissan hasn't committed to building a production version, but industry insiders are betting it will soon. That's because the bright yellow SUT was so well received at auto shows, and because it's based on Nissan's Frontier compact pickup and new Xterra SUV. Catching the same wave, Ford (F) is showing off the Explorer Sport Trac, which fastens a pickup bed on its popular SUV. Ford hopes its radical, edgy front design will attract Gen Xers who need a place to store their surfboards. Expect to see it in Ford showrooms by early 2000. The toniest entry, and undoubtedly the priciest, is the Lincoln Blackwood. It has the body of a Navigator SUV attached to a short, wood-paneled bed. Gussied up with plenty of chrome and leather, Blackwood also features a global positioning satellite navigation system. The truck bed is trimmed in exotic African hardwood and covered with a hydraulically controlled cover to protect the contents. When the Blackwood arrives in dealer showrooms early next year, analysts say its sticker price could reach $50,000. CAMINO REDUX. Not everyone in Detroit is joining the SUV-pickup trend. DaimlerChrysler hasn't announced plans to build one. ''We don't believe in mixing things,'' says market-research director Dave Bostwick. ''I don't think anybody is screaming to have the top of their SUV ripped off.'' What's next? ''An El Camino for the new millennium,'' suggests Wesley Brown of auto consultants Nextrend in Thousand Oaks, Calif. He's imagining an update to the '60s-era Chevrolet El Camino, a sedan with a pickup bed. As carmakers dream up every possible combo of truck and car, everything old is new again. By Kathleen Kerwin _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
|  |
 | |
You Call This the Family Car? PHOTO: Ford F-250 Super Duty Supercab PHOTO: Toyota Tundra 2000 PHOTO: Nissan SUT Concept Vehicle PHOTO: Lincoln Blackwood Concept Truck INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
