Would we fall in LUV with a new small truck
Apparently Ed Peper, general manager of Chevrolet, agrees. “Yes, I think there’s room for a compact and very fuel-efficient pickup. I think there’s an opportunity there,” Peper told the site. Intriguing, and a little surprising. Lots of manufacturers used to market small, fuel-efficient pickup trucks, but have virtually abandoned the market. The original Toyota Hilux pickup was once an absolute linchpin for Press’ old employer, Toyota. Now, Toyota’s smallest truck, the Tacoma, can be had in a crew-cab configuration that is 221.3 inches long — 10 inches longer than a Mercury Grand Marquis. Among the handful of true small pickups left is Ford’s regular-cab Ranger and its twin, the Mazda B-series. Once one of the best-selling vehicles in America, what has happened to the Ranger is just amazing: Sales have slipped year after year to the point where Ford sold only 72,711 Rangers in 2007, compared to 92,420 in 2006. This despite higher gas prices in 2007 that, you might think, would drive customers to a smaller pickup. Ten years ago, Ford sold 298,796 Rangers, making it the 10th-best-selling vehicle of 1997. Part of this decline is certainly because Ford ignored the Ranger. It hasn’t been substantially updated since 1998, making it one of the oldest vehicles on the market. By spending so little on redesign, Ford can keep the price low, but obviously low prices aren’t moving the metal. Automotive News even speculates that 2008 is the last year for the Ranger, period. This not to say that other manufacturers are setting the sales world on fire with their compact trucks, either. The Chevrolet Colorado’s sales dropped from 93,876 in 2006 to 75,716 in 2007. And it’s a much newer truck than the Ranger, having been introduced as a 2004 replacement for the S-10. Chevrolet (and GMC, with its Canyon pickup) initially priced the Colorado far too high, leaving little gap between it and Chevy’s superior full-sized Silverado. But even big discounts aren’t doing much for Colorado sales. That said, there might be an untapped market that is interested in a small pickup, at a small price. And there might not. The cheapest air-conditioned Ranger lists for $15,730, and is EPA-rated at 21 mpg city, 26 mpg highway. With rebates and discounts, you can knock a big chunk off that $15,730, so I’m not sure how much cheaper a manufacturer would be able to bring a small truck to market than that, and how much you could improve fuel mileage. A diesel four-cylinder could do it, but it would probably have to be Chinese or Indian to hit the sweet spot on price. Basically, then, somebody needs to reinvent the small truck, if the small-truck market is going to prosper. Would you, say, pay $13,000 for an air-conditioned pickup that averages 30 mpg? You would? Now all we have to do is wait for somebody to build one. Sentinel Automotive Editor Steven Cole Smith can be reached at scsmith@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5699.
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Tags: Auto, Chevrolet, Ford, fuel mileage, gas prices, gm, GMC, Mazda, Mercury, pickup trucks, s sales, Toyota
