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  • The word luxury in the automotive industry often conjures images of sleek

  • German sedans and sports cars, or on the very high end exotics from Italy

  • and elsewhere. Bearing six, seven, or even eight figure price tags.

  • But in recent years, a new phenomenon has emerged.

  • American carmakers, which have often struggled to compete at the higher

  • end of the market, have found a new way to lure customers by cranking out

  • top shelf versions of what many people would say Americans do best: T he

  • pickup truck. At least some auto executives say they haven't seen anything

  • like it before. As the overall auto market shifts away from sedans and

  • SUVs, a new type of customer is emerging, seeking plush, tech rich and

  • high priced premium pickup trucks.

  • These vehicles boast spacious interiors wrapped in leather and natural

  • wood, with cutting edge infotainment and driver assistance features.

  • Trucks are stealing industry awards from veteran luxury brands and a few

  • customers are even trading in their BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes, for Fords,

  • Rams, and GMCs.

  • It is slowly reshaping what a luxury vehicle can be.

  • Trucks as a category have gotten better.

  • They're not a tool anymore. They're a lot more than just going being a

  • tool. Pickup trucks form a relatively small portion of the overall vehicle

  • market. They're not nearly as popular as sport utility vehicles.

  • A few of which are still built on truck platforms.

  • Pickups are also just a slightly higher percentage of total new vehicle

  • sales than they were in 2007, before auto sales tanked due to fuel spikes

  • and a suffering economy.

  • But pickup trucks matter tremendously to Detroit automakers.

  • For example, about 1.2

  • million of the 2.3

  • million new vehicles sold under the Ford brand in 2019 were trucks.

  • For most of their history, pickup trucks in America have been functional

  • vehicles. Ford's first pickup truck, introduced in 1917, was a variation

  • on its Model T sedan, but outfitted with the heavier frame customers

  • wanted for loading cargo.

  • The Model TT was born.

  • From then on, trucks were mostly functional vehicles.

  • For decades, pickups were commonly just two-seaters, indicating they were

  • valued more for hauling stuff in the bed than they were for ferrying

  • passengers in the rear seats.

  • But over time, extended cabs, quad cabs, and crew cabs, styles of pickup

  • with four seats and often four doors, began to form an ever larger portion

  • of sales. Today, a growing portion of consumers are not seeking trucks for

  • use on a farm or a job site, but as comfortable daily drivers, family

  • haulers, or as gear for outdoor recreation.

  • Truck makers have ventured into luxury territory in the past.

  • Notable examples are the Lincoln Blackwood and the Cadillac Escalade EXT

  • pickup. But these vehicles were largely before their time.

  • Lincoln, the luxury brand owned by Ford, found success with its full size

  • Navigator sport utility vehicle in the late 1990s.

  • One of the first full size luxury sport utility vehicles available.

  • By the 2000s, Lincoln was competing fiercely with rival Cadillac, which

  • had introduced its own sport utility, the Escalade.

  • Around that time, Lincoln discovered through research that a substantial

  • portion of its customers also owned pickup trucks and thus the idea for

  • the Blackwood was born.

  • Designed to cater to a high end customer, the interior was covered in

  • leather, the bed had a two door tailgate, and the truck was finished with

  • white pin striping.

  • There was even a limited run Neiman-Marcus edition, named for the famous

  • premium department store.

  • But the Blackwood was a dud and was discontinued after a year.

  • Though it was built on a Ford F-Series platform, it lacked the capability

  • commonly found on true pickup trucks.

  • Cadillacs Escalade EXT sold better, but that model was soon discontinued

  • as well. But many say the time for the high end pickup has come and

  • automakers have become a great deal more shrewd about how they make them.

  • The shift away from the traditional low lying silhouettes of passenger

  • sedans and sports cars and toward the taller profiles of utilities and

  • trucks have spurred automakers to carve out new niches enabled by the

  • shift. For example, consider the proliferation of high performance SUVs

  • and off road ready trucks.

  • Such as Toyota's TRD lineup, the Chevrolet Z71 and ZR2 trims, the Ram

  • Rebel and Power Wagon, and the Ford Raptor.

  • A lot of this is enabled by new manufacturing techniques and overall leaps

  • in engineering, quality, and reliability that have made trucks and SUVs

  • easier to live with overall and made them more accessible to a wider array

  • of buyers. They have larger cabins and get better fuel economy often have

  • several cameras attached, driver assistance systems, and so on.

  • Luxury and premium can mean different things to different automakers, but

  • they could loosely be thought of as referring to the top one or two trim

  • levels in any given trucks lineup.

  • All three Detroit automakers sell top shelf versions of their trucks

  • bearing prices far above the typical base price for the same model.

  • The largest U.S. truck maker overall is General Motors, which has

  • dedicated an entire brand to what it considers more premium trucks.

  • GM owns both the Chevrolet and GMC brands.

  • Both Chevrolet and GMC have higher level trims, but Chevrolet tends to

  • focus more on the mainstream truck buyer, while GMC aims squarely at the

  • premium market. In fact, GMC can be thought of as a pioneer in the higher

  • end pickup market. So we've really established ourselves in a unique spot

  • in the market and that's really the only premium truck and SUV brand.

  • And the way, we like to talk about it is, it's premium that's made to be

  • used, so that's what our customers like.

  • First introduced in 1999, GMC's Denali lineup has long been its most

  • premium product and it has been quite popular.

  • In 2019, GMC's total Denali lineup of trucks and SUVs comprised about 30%

  • of all GMC U.S.

  • retail sales and the lineup had an average transaction price of $55,800.

  • Average transaction price or ATP, is the actual amount a customer pays for

  • a vehicle. GMC Denali ATPs have shot up in recent years and exceed those

  • for Mercedes, BMW, and Audi according to the company.

  • ATPs for the Denali version of GMC Sierra full-sized pickup truck alone

  • were $56,408.

  • GMC also recently launched an AT4 trim level, which is a premium trim with

  • more rugged features and capability intended for customers who want to

  • drive off road or be a bit rougher with their trucks.

  • It was supposed to be positioned between mainstream Sierra trucks and the

  • Denalis. But customers are optioning those trucks up too.

  • GMC updated its heavy duty line of larger full size pickups in late 2019,

  • and the automaker said about 80% of its sales for that lineup so far are

  • AT4 and Denali trims and average transaction prices are reaching above

  • $70,000 .

  • Ford F-Series, the best selling lineup of full-size pickups, had record

  • transaction prices in 2018 on demand for its high series pickups.

  • Ford's F-150 starts under $29,000, but the company sells four trim levels

  • with sticker prices above $50,000 stretching to a starting price around

  • $67,000 for the limited trim.

  • The truck comes with a two panel moon roof in the quad cab version and the

  • same high powered V6 engine found in the Ford Raptor.

  • One of the biggest stories in the full sized truck segment over the last

  • few years has been the arrival of the 2019 RAM 1500 , which has won

  • multiple industry awards and stolen market share from competitors both the

  • RAM 1500 and the larger 2500 won Motor Trend's Truck of the Year award for

  • 2019 and 2020, respectively.

  • The 1500 also won the North American Truck of the Year award at the

  • Detroit auto show and a slew of other honors.

  • But the RAM 1500 is snatching praise even outside its segment.

  • Industry website Cars.com

  • recently awarded the 1500 its Luxury Car of the Year award, in spite of

  • the fact that the RAM is neither a car nor something that would easily

  • slot into the luxury category.

  • The RAM beat out cars from more established luxury players such as BMW's

  • X7 SUV.

  • The Cars.com award specifically went to the two top trim packages

  • available for the 1500, t he Laramie Longhorn and the Limited.

  • Which are the top trim levels which are remarkably luxurious inside.

  • I mean beautiful rich leather.

  • They smell great.

  • The other materials are good.

  • There's interesting use of color.

  • In addition to conventional luxury features found in the RAM such as soft

  • leather and wood trim, the truck has a few traits not typically found in

  • pickup trucks, which helped it compete more with conventional luxury

  • rides. The truck's capability was also crucial to the team's decision.

  • RAM pickup sales were up 18% in 2019.

  • It was a record year for the brand, which has historically trailed General

  • Motors and leader Ford in volume.

  • All this comes as the average transaction price of the RAM 1500 has jumped

  • almost 50% since 2010 to about $50,000.

  • That is for the entire lineup from the base model that starts at about

  • $32,000 to the top Limited trim starting around $53,000.

  • So which one of these premium trucks commands the highest transaction

  • prices on average?

  • Out of the half ton pickups, the smallest and most popular class of full

  • size models, that award goes to the Ford F-150 Limited with an average

  • transaction price of $68,075, the GMC Denali comes in second at $61,658,

  • and the RAM Limited in third at $59,924.

  • All of those are higher than the average transaction prices for BMW,

  • Mercedes, and Audi, though not quite as high as those for Land Rover at

  • over $76,000 and Porsche at over $93,000.

  • Bear in mind, these are average transaction prices.

  • It is entirely possible for a heavily optioned pickup truck to transact at

  • an even higher price than that.

  • Though these percentages of buyers might seem small, they are paying

  • sometimes 20 to 30 thousand dollars more for their trucks than buyers for

  • the cheapest trims. That can mean some pretty solid profits.

  • The profit's definitely there and having them as stand alone trim levels

  • is great. But even if you look at the lower end, the mid and the lower

  • trims, they get optioned up.

  • I mean, nobody's really transacting at just right where that trim level

  • starts. You see some of them where they overlap.

  • The creep is certainly to the next trim.

  • This growth in premium pickups is a bright spot for U.S.

  • automakers, which have seen their fair share of troubles over the last

  • decade. In the luxury and premium space, U.S.

  • automakers have struggled at times to carve out an identity for

  • themselves, distinct from those of European automakers.

  • Ford's Lincoln brand is one American mark that has received praise for

  • newer models. To be sure, only a small portion of buyers.

  • About 3 to 6 percent, depending on the brand, are trading in luxury

  • vehicles for trucks.

  • For the most part, these pickups are attracting a whole new market.

  • Truck buyers who want their trucks to be a bit more polished and kitted

  • out than what they are used to.

  • Fiat Chrysler's RAM has sent a bit of a shot across the bow at its

  • competitors, but General Motors says its own research shows customers are

  • more interested in features and capability than interiors in their premium

  • trucks. It is worth noting that GMC vehicles typically come with at least

  • some basics found in premium and luxury vehicles, such as leather

  • interiors. Customers paying that amount typically expect that.

  • But so far, GM says it is focusing on technology capability and

  • engineering over smooth or elegant touch points.

  • These kinds of features include beds made from carbon fiber, a first for

  • the industry, and the brand's MultiPro tailgate, which can be used for

  • different functions such as a step into the bed or a bed extender.

  • GMC trucks also can come with a 15 inch configurable heads up display.

  • As of early 2020, Ford planned to release a new version of its F-Series

  • pickup, its first full redesign in several years.

  • The automaker is tightlipped on specifics, but industry watchers are

  • expecting Ford to include a bevy of high priced options for buyers looking

  • for the top of the line.

  • If sales of trim levels at Ford's Lincoln brand are any indication,

  • customers appear to be seeking out priciest versions of new products.

  • When the new Lincoln Navigator debuted in 2017, 84% of buyers were opting

  • for the Black Label and Reserve trim, the two highest level trims

  • available with prices that could run above $100,000.

  • Perhaps GM's biggest announcement of 2020 so far was the expected revival

  • of the Hummer brand name as a fully electric truck.

  • The first time around, the Hummer was a stand alone brand name in the GM

  • stable. The reincarnated Hummer will be under the GMC banner and will be a

  • luxury product. The Hummer might be a smart move for the brand say those

  • who follow the industry.

  • Sales of sport utility vehicles and trucks tanked around 2008, hit by both

  • a recession and a fuel crisis.

  • They have since recovered, but the question remains what happens if gas

  • prices rise to a level uncomfortable for customers or the economy takes a

  • turn for the worse and consumers begin to feel that a full sized luxury

  • pickup with a $70,000 price tag is a luxury they simply do not need.

  • This could spell trouble for the big three, which tend to compete best in

  • the large truck and SUV segments.

  • The best selling mid-sized pickup in the United States is not from an

  • American brand at all, but from Toyota, the Tacoma pickup.

  • Toyota has found a way to compete well in the truck business while

  • contending with a pretty patriotic U.S.

  • customer base and an onerous 25% tax on imports.

  • Toyota produces its midsize Tacoma and its full sized Tundra in the U.S.

  • to get around the tax.

  • Some industry watchers think that an oil shock or economic downturn might

  • not spark a shift back to traditional passenger cars, but it could send

  • customers to cheaper, smaller, and more efficient trucks and SUVs.

  • In the meantime, some industry watchers worry that the market has simply

  • become saturated with variety.

  • There are now models of truck and SUV in every conceivable configuration.

  • Competition is stiff.

The word luxury in the automotive industry often conjures images of sleek

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How Detroit Turned Trucks Into Luxury Vehicles

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    joey joey に公開 2021 年 06 月 06 日
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