skipnchar wrote:


Adjust by keeping on doing just what they're doing?

DutchmenSport wrote:

Well, someone will continue to make BIG trucks! Semi's are still needed.

Quote:



Agreed, Toyota and Nissan just destroy F, C and D trucks with all the little things.

When I was looking at a Titan a couple years back. It had superior interior appointments, the entire rear window rolled down, tranny temp gauge, 5 or 6 (I can't remember) speed tranny, 4.10 equivalent gearing, large tow mirrors, factory sprayed in bedliner, cargo system, that little lockable door to store stuff like receiver hitches, I'm sure I could go on if I thought about it a little longer. If I would have bought a new 1/2 then it would have been a Titan, hands down.

Yes, F, C and D closed the gap, and I haven't compared in a couple years, but I know Titan still has them beat with a few things like, standard tow mirrors, tranny temp gauge, factory sprayed in liner, roll down back window.

True innovation by the big 3, not marketing, is where more money needs to be spent.

K3WE wrote:

Not too many weeks ago, there was doom and gloom that pickup trucks and SUV's were all but gone.

And there were some interesting truths that festered when gas was high:

It became clear that a big Hummer with four captain chairs existed mostly to look cool and burn gas.

A useless vehicle in my book. The civvy Hummer is a watered down and prettified military vehicle that seems mostly to be bought to advertise business'. This is actually a good use for the Hummer as it does get looks.

It became clear that lots of folks drove pickup trucks and posh SUV's to look cool.

They replaced the RWD, V8 full size car, last seen in any real numbers in the '70's. Now that gas has soared, the sales are withering on the vine.

It became clear that the Suburban/Tahoe/Expedition/etc. with four captain chairs and the shrinking cabin size was an expensive way to get groceries and take your two kids to the soccer game.

And, even in recent years, it's been bemoaned on these boards how the guts had been removed those very SUV's and that while they advertise a shrunken towing capaicty, it's comes with hitches that break and transmissions that burn up, and engines that don't always get the job done etc, etc.!

They sure don't make them like they used to. Back in the mid -90's (96)I looked at ordering a basic Sub, HD suspnsion, 350 Vortec with 2 WD, locking G80 axle...kind of like a Hydro or Utility model, with very little in the way of options to tow. The idea was to get a useful TRUCK at a reasonable price. Could of got the 454 (7.4) in the 2500 series, back then.

You used to see Subs as the tow vehicle of choice, back in the '70's, 80's and early '90's. What happened....they became prettified and expensive, lost the big block engine.

Now, let's turn the clock back to the 1970's and 1980's. Trucks, Suburbans, IH Travelalls, existed because there was a need for vehicles to haul stuff and tow stuff.
That's what I wanted, a basic Sub.
And while RVing is an "elective" hobby, "the construction industry" and a few thousand other essential businesses need such vehicles.

So, while GM and Ford have made good money selling TOY* trucks and are now paying the price as demand for the toys* has crashed, the demand for "real trucks" probably hasn't fundamentally changed.

(*I mean toy in the sense of the buyers intent and use, not neccesarily a reflection on the actual vehicle)

So, what do we think will happen???

It's kind of interesting that we suddenly have full-sized Nissan and Toyota trucks......will this be another lost battle for our US automakers if the Japanese companies can keep making "work trucks" while our US guys ditch thier "toy" pickup lines?

Or, will our US guys adjust, albeit painfully, and still make tucks?

And, now for my personaly fantasy, will we start to see really strange SUVs that have "utility" instead of luxury and style?