Why do Americans like Pickup trucks?

[TEG]

There is another issue at play too, besides the CAFE standards. Being built on a "truck" body means that a lot of safety regulations that applied to cars didn't have to be obeyed, making them cheaper. This was also true for behemoths like the Chevy Suburban.

This is true, and I think it equates to higher profit margins. So, the manufacturers will market and push harder to get them sold.

Here in the SF bay area, you wouldn't know that pickup trucks are so popular in the USA, but if you go to more rural areas they are predominant.

Once my wife had some relatives from rural Texas visiting and was showing them her new small car. They were unimpressed and kept shaking their heads saying "that can't haul anything"...

It seems a lot of truck marketing is around towing capacity...

In some cases people would be better off having a small car and renting a truck when they need to haul things, but a lot of people want a vehicle "ready for anything" at a moments notice, so they drive their big truck all the time even as a lone driver with no load to carry.

 

[beeeerock]

Pick up trucks driven by those who frankly "don't need a truck" are a huge environmental problem...better ICE alternatives exist that would help the environment in the short run... if consumers would simply make wiser, more intelligent choices, our current environmental situation would be marginally better.

This is why I find Chevy's current TV ad marketing campaign so low and disgusting...using sexual sterotyping (Women preferring the so called "macho" pick up truck driver over the regular car driver) and extending this B.S. sterotyping to children (the "what kind of pet would the truck owner have...a german shepard (macho) dog as the young kid states, vs the car driver having a bird as a pet).

This type of marketing is beneath contempt, and Chevy should bet ashamed of themselves...

I'm including all of your post, because it's in complete agreement with my opinion. In this day and age, that commercial you are referring to is absolutely absurd and really is symbolic of the problem with society and the reason why we're in the predicament we're in! It tells me that GM (and by association, the rest of the car industry) is far more concerned with their profits today than being able to exist as a company tomorrow. When I see the commercial, I feel nothing but contempt for GM and want to own a truck even less than I did before. And that's the discussion in the family room when it comes on. Maybe it will sell a few more trucks, but at the price of alienating the people who are smart enough to see through their strategy. And I think that group of people is growing, not shrinking.

Living where I do, you can easily and accurately stereotype 'truck people' (excluding those who use a truck for work of course). They'll spend huge dollars to buy the expensive edition, then more to jack them up (how can that be safe in an accident if they hit anything other than another monster truck?), add chrome, remove or open up the exhaust system... and some even set themselves up as 'Coal Rollers'. They are the ones who you can accurately predict will make a stupid or arrogant move in traffic. They are proof that the education system is failing and that you simply "can't fix stupid".

Unfortunately, they can't all be given the vanity plate "D-BAG"...

 

[Matias]

I would like to see those ads you are referring:biggrin:

 

[mknox]

When I see the commercial, I feel nothing but contempt for GM and want to own a truck even less than I did before.

I'm going to play devil's advocate here, because I think there is a point to be made. I will first of all admit that I am not an ardent environmentalist. That does not mean I don't care, but have done other things in my life to compensate. I used to think the early enviro-centric ads for the Prius were just ridiculous, and they just made me want to avoid them like the plague. I've always felt that if EVs are marketed just to the very eco-minded, they would always remain relegated to that slice of the market. This is the genius of Tesla, in my mind. They have said they want to build the best car... that just happens to be electric. So now you see people who are not especially concerned about the environment coveting them. That can only be good because no matter why they choose a Model S, they end up driving a green, clean car. I think GM has perhaps realized that their truck sales are limited to a certain type of person and are just playing their ads to that audience as Toyota did with their Prius ads early on.

 

[beeeerock]

I would like to see those ads you are referring:biggrin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IvPTPaByE4

 

[Matias]

:biggrin:

 

[beeeerock]

I think GM has perhaps realized that their truck sales are limited to a certain type of person and are just playing their ads to that audience as Toyota did with their Prius ads early on.

I think you could very well be correct. What they might not have counted on though, is the fact that these ads are likely to alienate those who they don't appeal to. I ignore other ads that don't interest me... this one annoys me and turns me off of GM. What the price of that possible alienation is, is only a question GM could answer.

 

[yobigd20]

FYI I am also in the market for a truck for various reasons but also to frequently tow and launch a 27 foot boat. Can't really do that in the S or even the X.

 

[glhs272]

I don't like driving pickup trucks. It drives like a lumber wagon, drinks diesel at 20mpg, and makes all kinds of racket. But I still have/need one. When I can get an affordable electric replacement, I will be right there in line to get one. In the mean time, I keep it parked 360 days out of the year.

 

[beeeerock]

When I can get an affordable electric replacement, I will be right there in line to get one. In the mean time, I keep it parked 360 days out of the year.

And you know, it might not be that long before it happens. When you consider how those commercials posted above all fixate on torque and power, it's painfully apparent that an electric motor could easily provide the same specifications. Need to work out cooling for continuous duty and make sure there is enough battery capacity 'in the tank', but it's really just a matter of a company making up their mind that they're going to do it.

But before they do so, they'll have to get their advertising consultant to prepare a marketing strategy that makes and electric truck 'manly'...

 

[jaguar36]

I think the better question is how to people in Europe move stuff. I don't have a pickup and I always have a issue whenever I want to move furniture, get plywood, get stone or mulch. I either have to pay a giant delivery fee, or rental fee. And its a giant inconvenience and headache.

 

[DMC-Orangeville]

I have a full size F250 pickup - and I need it. I haul horses, hay, and manure. I also needed to drive it into the city when Elon and company delayed my delivery of my 85D; having sold my car on the expectation of an on-time receipt.:wink:

So - for a brief time, I was one of those whacko city pickup truck drivers, who should never be on downtown roads. No fun parking it either.

 

[Eclectic]

I drive a Ford F150. It's the most comfortable vehicle I own (more comfortable than the P85D and FAR more comfortable than the VW Rabbit) and it does things that I need. I am a hunter and I frequently will go far off road while hunting. I guess an SUV would work, but I also use the truck to haul furniture and other large items, which an SUV isn't so good at, and when I am successful hunting the deer/elk/antelope/etc goes in the bed and I can just hose it out afterwards. PLUS, my F150 has a 36 gallon fuel tank and gets 20 mpg on the freeway when I'm not speeding, so a 700+ mile range is very important when I'm out in places like Wyoming where I have to drive a long time without a gas station around.

I'd go so far as to argue that my truck is more practical than my P85D for the respective intended purposes. There are many more times that I need to go off road or haul bulky items than times that I need to do 0-60 in 3.1 seconds. No knock on the P85D, because I enjoy it quite a bit, but for people who are not purely urban creatures a truck tends to be mighty useful.

 

[Mattias]

We don't need to mostly. New furniture is often Ikea-style, so flat packs which you can fit in the back of any Golf or Audi. If for some reason you need to haul a whole chair or something weirdly shaped, you could just call a friend who has a Volvo V70 or any other estate car. This covers 99.5% of all hauling you will ever need to do.

Now if you were moving the contents of lets say, a whole apartment, the way to solve this is by renting a trailer or a van for a few hours. This takes care of the remaining 0.5% of moving stuff. For moving dirty thing like gravel or stone, call a friend and borrow his/hers trailer or simply rent one for an hour or two.

People don't want to own a trailer because, where you put it?? There isn't any room anywhere. Then I'd also have to pay for parking the trailer, insurance, MOT, taxes, and all sorts of crap.

 

[AudubonB]

As someone who is a regular on the "Tesla Pickup Truck" thread, I'll chime in as about the truck-iest member here, but I am acutely aware that my needs are not those of 95 percent of the North American driver.
I wish I didn't need to drive a pickup as often as I do; there are, however, some features that always will be compelling. I haul a lot of bulky items that I either wouldn't want to or absolutely couldn't in my other large vehicle, an extended-length E-350. That is, a very, very large van.
*One cannot, for example, fit a king-sized mattress in that (a recent example); or 500 gallons of diesel (yecch. a necessary evil).
*The towing capacity of the truck is what enabled me to haul 25,500 lbs for 3,800 miles/6,100 km ten days ago.
*My camper is not a necessity, but it makes the 3,800 miles far less unpleasant a trip than otherwise.
*Europeans frequently comment how strange it is that Americans prefer the unsecured tub of a pickup back to the enclosed security of the minivans, etc that are far more prevalent in other parts of the world. This has some validity; those who haul horse manure do have a different opinion....or, in my case, gravel.

I do agree that the market-distorting CAFE standards in place since the 1970s, as mentioned above, have been instrumental in enshrining the pickup in the place it presently holds in the US. I do not know if Canada followed lock step with its southern neighbor in this - anyone knowledgeable?

 

[Mattias]

As someone who is a regular on the "Tesla Pickup Truck" thread, I'll chime in as about the truck-iest member here, but I am acutely aware that my needs are not those of 95 percent of the North American driver.
I wish I didn't need to drive a pickup as often as I do; there are, however, some features that always will be compelling. I haul a lot of bulky items that I either wouldn't want to or absolutely couldn't in my other large vehicle, an extended-length E-350. That is, a very, very large van.
*One cannot, for example, fit a king-sized mattress in that (a recent example); or 500 gallons of diesel (yecch. a necessary evil).
*The towing capacity of the truck is what enabled me to haul 25,500 lbs for 3,800 miles/6,100 km ten days ago.
*My camper is not a necessity, but it makes the 3,800 miles far less unpleasant a trip than otherwise.
*Europeans frequently comment how strange it is that Americans prefer the unsecured tub of a pickup back to the enclosed security of the minivans, etc that are far more prevalent in other parts of the world. This has some validity; those who haul horse manure do have a different opinion....or, in my case, gravel.

I do agree that the market-distorting CAFE standards in place since the 1970s, as mentioned above, have been instrumental in enshrining the pickup in the place it presently holds in the US. I do not know if Canada followed lock step with its southern neighbor in this - anyone knowledgeable?

If you need to haul more "nasty" stuff, why can't you just use a small trailer? Why do you need a Pickup truck for that?

 

[anticitizen13.7]

I know a few people with pickup trucks and they are used for work (hauling large items and sometimes piles of dirty stuff like mulch). I've heard that some people buy pickups for status but to be honest, I've never observed that. Where I live luxury sedans and SUVs equal status, and a pickup that's not dirty and banged up from work is an oddity.

 

[beeeerock]

I do not know if Canada followed lock step with its southern neighbor in this - anyone knowledgeable?

Except in the very large cities (somewhat at least), trucks are a way of life and a culture in themselves here in Canada too. In reality, all the reasons you gave for having a truck apply to Canada as well, perhaps more so due to our smaller and more spread out population. If I had the space to park one and enough reason/income to allow it to depreciate while keeping it insured, there's a good chance I'd have one too, for those occasions where it would come in handy. I've always had relatives with a truck though, so it hasn't been necessary for me. I have no desire to have one as my daily driver and would feel guilty about it if I did.

While I would love for there to be a more carbon-friendly option, I accept that trucks are a necessity. My pet peeve is with people who have them as an extension of their personality, rather than because of a legitimate need for the utility they provide. I'm not real stoked about huge RV's rambling all over the country, just to see the sights, either...

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I know a few people with pickup trucks and they are used for work (hauling large items and sometimes piles of dirty stuff like mulch). I've heard that some people buy pickups for status but to be honest, I've never observed that. Where I live luxury sedans and SUVs equal status, and a pickup that's not dirty and banged up from work is an oddity.

Around here, it is somewhat about status, but not really in the way you'd expect. It's more about status in the blue collar portion of society... they'll happily drop $60,000 plus for a monster Chevy 4x4 diesel, with all the bells and whistles... and that's what you'll see on the display ramp outside the dealership, more often than a luxury sedan. Dealerships will advertise themselves as 'your truck store' etc., because that's what attracts a significant portion of their customer base.

 

[AudubonB]

If you need to haul more "nasty" stuff, why can't you just use a small trailer? Why do you need a Pickup truck for that?

Trailers also very definitely have their place, and for many situations a trailer behind an SUV/CUV, etc., certainly does work. Trust me, however: there are many, many times when you are so grateful you're moving just one two-axled frame rather than an articulating 3- or 4-axled one. Ugh. (try backing up in a city, e.g.).

 

[Bulletproof]

It seems to me that the pick up truck craze, or any big vehicle is more linked to image and perceived status symbol, that for one reason or another, was glorified from American gentleman farmer to bored in the city. A construction friend of mine blames pickup truck owners for driving their prices up after they became fashionable. Not sure if that's true, but he makes a good point. I think there's a disconnect between looking tough and being tough in our society. It's like people asking for a dark coffee and then drowning it with a lot of sugar because it's too bitter.