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Having worked at Ford corporate headquarters, I can tell you this is due mainly to the huge number of fleet sales of F150s. Not because the average joe is buying one.
The F150 is super popular here in California... and none are fleet just looking around... plenty of Superduty trucks driven be contractors though...
Looking out at the Doctors parking lot there are just as many decked out F150 as German Luxury... but we also have a fair amount of Tesla and other Electrics... surprising in that 25 years ago it would have been Porsche... I know because I do the Doctor Parking Permits.
It could be much different outside the SF Bay Area.
Never going to happen. There is not enough business to justify building such a vehicle. To put such a vehicle back in production, especially not enough business to be able to produce one for under $20,000, and the car company and the dealers to be able to make even 10 cents each profit. The days of a $20,000 pickup, are long gone, and are not coming back.
That's the conventional wisdom, that small trucks don't sell. But there's a niche that remains unfilled. Sooner or later a company will stick their neck out, buck the trend and sell one.
In our part of the world, go to any parking lot and you will find 3/4 of all vehicles are medium to large SUVs, and Pickups. The #1 best selling vehicles in the USA, is the F150 pickup. It sells more pickups than the first in production autos. And that does not include the F250, F350, and F450 lines of pickups. #2 is the Chevrolet Silverado, and #3 is Dodge Ram.
The range from a little over $20,000 to nearly $100,000 in price. In that parking lot, the 4 door mid to up scale models and trim levels are the same value as the autos driven by people driving cars in the city. My wife and I are in our late 80s, and our two vehicles are a F150 pickup, and a fully decked out Ford Explorer SUV. Sticker price was just under $50,000 and this is just a mid price range model. Most are 4 doors, and all 4X4 drive. Rarely will you see a 2 door short bed, pickup.
In the cities Doctors, and Executives drive luxury cars. Out in the real world like Montana, the same people drive luxury pickups such as this the Ford F450 which started this thread.
Out here they call the following model pickup, and those mid size made by foreign owned companies, are called Ladies Trucks. Out here people drive real pickups, not for work buy everyday drivers.
Out here we don't think anything about seeing a teen age 4'8" 85 pound girl jump into a F350 pickup and wheel it down the road as well as any man can do. We drive what we drive, as they will serve us well no matter the road conditions, up and down mountains. They are also build tougher and use less maintenance than cars do. Out here the first car a teen is given or buys is a Pickup, all with 4X4 or AWD, and 4 door configuration.
Note: Ford F150 is considered the most dangerous car on the road. Not dangerous for the driver and their passengers of the F150, but for dangerous to those driving small and sporty cars that run into one. When one of those little city cars crashes into one, it extremely dangerous for the little car driver, and those in the pickup, have no injuries.
Very interesting, John . . . does seem a little steep.
Actually, $94k is "chump change" compared to what many pay for high end Mercedes, Rolls Royces and Bentleys to name just a few. Also, let's not forget those "Mega Exclusive Italian Sports Cars."
I think the difference is that a fancy ride (say a $100k S-class Mercedes or 7-series BMW) provides a certain degree of "wow" when you drive by, which is probably what those kinds of drivers desire.
With trucks, the "wow" factor stops way short of $90k. You'd probably get the same reaction in a $40k truck as you would in a $200k truck especially if we're talking about Ford, Chevys etc.. For sedans and sports cars, there's definitely a difference in "wow" between a Toyota Camry and a Bentley Continental.
Now if we started getting Aston Martin or Ferrari pickup trucks.....
In our part of the world, go to any parking lot and you will find 3/4 of all vehicles are medium to large SUVs, and Pickups. The #1 best selling vehicles in the USA, is the F150 pickup. It sells more pickups than the first in production autos. And that does not include the F250, F350, and F450 lines of pickups. #2 is the Chevrolet Silverado, and #3 is Dodge Ram.
The range from a little over $20,000 to nearly $100,000 in price. In that parking lot, the 4 door mid to up scale models and trim levels are the same value as the autos driven by people driving cars in the city. My wife and I are in our late 80s, and our two vehicles are a F150 pickup, and a fully decked out Ford Explorer SUV. Sticker price was just under $50,000 and this is just a mid price range model. Most are 4 doors, and all 4X4 drive. Rarely will you see a 2 door short bed, pickup.
In the cities Doctors, and Executives drive luxury cars. Out in the real world like Montana, the same people drive luxury pickups such as this the Ford F450 which started this thread.
Out here they call the following model pickup, and those mid size made by foreign owned companies, are called Ladies Trucks. Out here people drive real pickups, not for work buy everyday drivers.
Out here we don't think anything about seeing a teen age 4'8" 85 pound girl jump into a F350 pickup and wheel it down the road as well as any man can do. We drive what we drive, as they will serve us well no matter the road conditions, up and down mountains. They are also build tougher and use less maintenance than cars do. Out here the first car a teen is given or buys is a Pickup, all with 4X4 or AWD, and 4 door configuration.
Note: Ford F150 is considered the most dangerous car on the road. Not dangerous for the driver and their passengers of the F150, but for dangerous to those driving small and sporty cars that run into one. When one of those little city cars crashes into one, it extremely dangerous for the little car driver, and those in the pickup, have no injuries.
Depends on the city. If you live in a big southern city (Dallas, Houston etc), you'll see plenty of large trucks and SUV's.
Honestly though, in this part of the country people will have a daily driver (Nissan, Lexus, Hyundai etc) sedan and then either a sports car for weekend driving or a large truck if they like to go hunting, fishing or just towing things around. In the city, having a large truck isn't practical because you can't really maneuver it in tight spaces, no matter how good of a driver you are. Parking spaces are often barely wide enough to fit a Ford Focus let alone an F-250. Besides, on the highway, big trucks get left in the dust. All the size in the world isn't going to matter if my Hyundai Elantra zip by you on tight corners and open straights.
I think the difference is that a fancy ride (say a $100k S-class Mercedes or 7-series BMW) provides a certain degree of "wow" when you drive by, which is probably what those kinds of drivers desire.
With trucks, the "wow" factor stops way short of $90k. You'd probably get the same reaction in a $40k truck as you would in a $200k truck especially if we're talking about Ford, Chevys etc.. For sedans and sports cars, there's definitely a difference in "wow" between a Toyota Camry and a Bentley Continental.
Now if we started getting Aston Martin or Ferrari pickup trucks.....
The 12 cylinder Mercedes/BMW and all but one Ferrari have disappeared from the Hospital Doctors parking lot.
We do have several electric BMW and even a couple of Nissan Leafs and about as many Tesla in various models... and of course Prius.
The plumbers, electricians and landscape contractors are all 3/4 series or one ton... with some Sprinters in the mix.
At one time there were zero pickups with more each year...
Having worked at Ford corporate headquarters, I can tell you this is due mainly to the huge number of fleet sales of F150s. Not because the average joe is buying one.
so true most F150 i see are white short bed regular cab 2wd xl models
Please, will somebody bring back the little utility pickup? A modern version of the Chevy LUV, the Mazda B2000, etc. No frills. Cloth seats and hand crank windows. Maybe a small extended cab area to stash a few items. A 6-ft bed. Something that will fit in your garage. I think a modern version of a small utility pickup with say, 180hp 4 cyl mated to a 6 spd tranny, will perform a lot better than the 1980's mini-trucks. And sell them for under $20k!
Ford realized they shot themselves in the foot when they terminated Ranger sales in North America in 2011. Amazingly enough, their marketing plan to force Ranger owners to purchase F-150s didn't work too well - they just went to Toyota and Chevy/GM. Now they're bringing back the Ranger, but it isn't the old Ranger you're thinking of, it's the international version that has remained for sale. Damned thing is almost as big as an F-150. I'll stick with my 98 Ranger "Supercab", thank you very much.
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