Americans Don't Love Trucks Anymore

[benroethig]

Originally Posted by Robert Ryan

The Eurocargo pictured above comes in 3000 different combinations.From 9 ton carrying capacity to 26ton.

A Renault Midlum CrewCab similar to a Eurocargo.


by the way we do have a lot of snow in quite a few places in Australia, its a whole lot worse in New Zealand

You're using a medium duty commercial vehicle for pickup tasks?

Originally Posted by Kamshaaft

Ignorance is bliss, isn't it?

Yes it is. You guys may want to venture beyond the south Pacific every once in a while.

[plane]

Originally Posted by Robert Ryan

You left out Feral US tourists and backpackers.

Based on your comments, it seems fairly certain that you are getting treatment and counseling for a severe and baffling kangaroo attack?
Perhaps it was your cologne?

Please do watch for foaming at the mouth and an insatiable urge to go jump in the bulldust. Do let us know how it turns out.

In other news, a noted Australian compares medium duty cargo-hauler to light duty pickup truck and proclaims the cargo-hauler more capable.
Details at 11.

[Robert Ryan]

You're using a medium duty commercial vehicle for pickup tasks?

No the Medium Duty(plentiful here, something they are not in the US) is used for Medium Duty tasks.We do not use US sourced Pickups because we have Utes, Vans , Station Wagons, Japanese Pickups to do those things.

Yes it is. You guys may want to venture beyond the south Pacific every once in a while.

I suggest you travel from Colorado to other parts of the US and other parts of the world.Travel broadens the mind.

[SwampFoxZ71]

Originally Posted by Robert Ryan

No the Medium Duty(plentiful here, something they are not in the US) is used for Medium Duty tasks.We do not use US sourced Pickups because we have Utes, Vans , Station Wagons, Japanese Pickups to do those things.

I suggest you travel from Colorado to other parts of the US and other parts of the world.Travel broadens the mind.

Travel may broaden the mind, but as for going outside the US, no thanks. I'll keep my Constitutional Rights I'm afforded here, thank you very much. Not that there aren't places I'd like to visit. But I prefer my Bill of Rights to anything I'd get as a foreigner.

We do not have Utes, Vans, Station Wagons...but do have Japanese pickups...and American pickups...so that's what we use. And why post Medium Duty trucks as alternatives to our pickups when most of our pickups do what those do anyway? Not sure what the original point of that was now.

[Robert Ryan]

And why post Medium Duty trucks as alternatives to our pickups when most of our pickups do what those do anyway? Not sure what the original point of that was now

Yet to see a Pickup towing 20 tons(40,000lb) You use a lot of Pickups to do the work of several Medium Trucks. The orginal point made by an earlier poster , was that other vehicles used outside the US, could not do the work of Pickups in the US. My point and others who disagree, say yes they can and are doing it on a regular basis.

[Kamshaaft]

Another goddamn 'my dad shot your dad' type arguement, haha.

Originally Posted by benroethig

You're using a medium duty commercial vehicle for pickup tasks?.

As opposed to dually Silverado's to haul around groceries if anything at all? Great call Ben.
In Australia, the land you're speaking of, Land Cruisers are more often than not classed as utes, not trucks. Same deal all around the world really, especially so in under developed nations where you'll often see an Isuzu/Holden Rodeo hauling 2 tonnes of construction equiptment, goods, passengers, or all three.

Originally Posted by benroethig

Yes it is. You guys may want to venture beyond the south Pacific every once in a while.

I've been to the UK, Europe, North America, Asia, and the Oceania (apart from my home of Australia)...
...Where have you been?

To quote Robbo above " yes they can and are doing it on a regular basis." End of argument yeah.

Originally Posted by SwampFoxZ71

Not sure what the original point of that was now.

Y
eah it's got a bit hazy aye, something along the lines of a report claiming that less Americans are buying big trucks now than they weere a while ago, who knows what the reasons for that are though or whether it's even a fair report..

..either way it ddoes sound like the pefect time to be introducing the Ute to US shores (If you consider that it has to happen at some time, that is).

[nailhead425]

Originally Posted by moman

By the way, most heavy haulers and farmers don't want a 4x4 because of the extra weight and reduction in capacity. Only us city slickers and urban cowboys (and snow belt people) feel compelled to have a 4x4.

Farmers are notoriously frugal. They get the cheapest thing that will do the job. In my area there were lots of guys with 3/4 ton diesels and very few DOT folks checked tanks. My family had a 2x4 truck and a 4x4 to pull it out. When the gravel roads turn to ice it really doesn't matter much. As far as hauling goes, I don't know any of them that actually pay attention to the "payload" capacity. They just load 'em up. With the old GMC/Chevy trucks you could haul a whole lot of seed before it would bottom out. The guys with 3/4 tons liked them, but they cost alot more. Like I said, getting a diesel was key for many people I knew.

The other thing to consider is the merging of the farm truck and the car. Now days, and you know you can't deny this, a 3/4 ton diesel 4x4 truck will do all the things that old 1/2 ton '78 GMC could do, plus take the family into town, or to church in comfort.

Originally Posted by moman

The best experience I had with people owning trucks they wouldn't use was when my business partner asked me to move a file cabinet for his neighbor. I recalled that his neighbor has a Harley Davidson F150 and asked why he didn't move it himself. His reply "Oh no, I won't put anything in the back".

I do have to agree. I can do without the pretty trucks. You know the guys who lift their trucks 6-8", then put fancy chrome 20" wheels and act like they have a big-rig. Don't forget the dual 5" stacks too. The only worthwhile aspect about those is that they keep the tuner-derived plume of soot from pouring into the car next to them.

For those folks, I hope the new trend is sport sedans.

[nailhead425]

Originally Posted by Robert Ryan

No the Medium Duty(plentiful here, something they are not in the US) is used for Medium Duty tasks.We do not use US sourced Pickups because we have Utes, Vans , Station Wagons, Japanese Pickups to do those things.

I think if we had more capable ElCaminos (Utes), station wagons, and small/medium pickups the fullsize sales may decline. However, CAFE here killed the large wagons, even fullsize cars. I can't remember the payload of the ElCamino but I know we loaded it alot more than we should have. It sure was a lot better looking than an S-10 and the car-based suspension was nice. Our old wagons could hold full 4x8 sheets of plywood and tow well over the rated 5k. Too bad they are gone because almost everyone in the family now has a fullsize truck and a SUV.

Originally Posted by Robert Ryan

I suggest you travel from Colorado to other parts of the US and other parts of the world.Travel broadens the mind.

For those that don't know the Western US, specifically Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho present some very unique challenges. What works well at 1,000 ft elevation may not at 6,000 ft, let alone 10,000. If I were in Iowa a HD truck would be kind of silly, but out here where 6% grades at high elevation are common, towing 8,000lbs with a half-ton can be deadly.

[Robert Ryan]

What works well at 1,000 ft elevation may not at 6,000 ft, let alone 10,000. If I were in Iowa a HD truck would be kind of silly, but out here where 6% grades at high elevation are common, towing 8,000lbs with a half-ton can be deadly

Having been through: Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho , I tend to agree. A lot of it looks like the drier areas of Australia, in Wyoming's case at pretty high altitude, high enough to get altitude sickness.

[moman]

Originally Posted by nailhead425

Farmers are notoriously frugal. They get the cheapest thing that will do the job. In my area there were lots of guys with 3/4 ton diesels and very few DOT folks checked tanks. My family had a 2x4 truck and a 4x4 to pull it out. When the gravel roads turn to ice it really doesn't matter much. As far as hauling goes, I don't know any of them that actually pay attention to the "payload" capacity. They just load 'em up. With the old GMC/Chevy trucks you could haul a whole lot of seed before it would bottom out. The guys with 3/4 tons liked them, but they cost alot more. Like I said, getting a diesel was key for many people I knew.

The other thing to consider is the merging of the farm truck and the car. Now days, and you know you can't deny this, a 3/4 ton diesel 4x4 truck will do all the things that old 1/2 ton '78 GMC could do, plus take the family into town, or to church in comfort.

I do have to agree. I can do without the pretty trucks. You know the guys who lift their trucks 6-8", then put fancy chrome 20" wheels and act like they have a big-rig. Don't forget the dual 5" stacks too. The only worthwhile aspect about those is that they keep the tuner-derived plume of soot from pouring into the car next to them.

For those folks, I hope the new trend is sport sedans.

That's a good quote. To add to a couple points you made, 4x4 doesn't work well in ice although many people seem to think otherwise (generally city yuppies who believe 4x4 allows you to go 75 on the icy interstate).

Trucks have certainly taken on a larger role in the family. My grandparents used the truck for work and drove the car everywhere else, their grandson (me) drives the truck everywhere, including to the grocery store, work, trips, etc. Trucks have become much nicer and the newest ones combine the creature comforts of a 2000 Cadillac with the ability to haul a cabin.

Thankfully gas prices and social stigma have taken their toll on image buyers, and I do believe the sport sedan and sport wagons are getting their money. IMO, gas is too low until the day the last Lincoln pickup/Navigator used only for show is forced to the scrapper.

Funny enough - a coworker was describing a problem with her truck, I mean Ford Escape. She didn't take kindly to my mentioning that it was not a truck.

[baloo]

You only have to look at how trucks changed over the years and their presentation to realize which buyers they're targetting.

What did manufacturers improve compared to 10, 20 or 30 years ago? In terms of utility there has been virtually zero progess. Modern trucks are hardly any more space-efficient, economical or capable than they were decades ago. No variable beds, nothing to make loading easier, etc.
However, modern trucks are a lot faster and a lot more comfortable than their ancestors. Two things commercial buyers couldn't care less about, but that are rather important for image buyers that want to drive them to their office.

As for the presentation, just look at Ford's F-150 website for example. Only 4 box styles but 11(!) grille options and 13 different wheel designs, only TWO of which are steel. And the interior of a vehicle that's supposedly intended to be used for work looks like this:

[DuallyMan]

I love Australia, beautiful country. I'd been there six times. Y'all women are pretty and nice. Not too many fat chicks around. Unless us we have alot of whales swimming around here. Y'all beers and foods are great. Ain't nobody do trucking like the Aussie even though we invented trucks here.

[PA Dweller]

Originally Posted by baloo

You only have to look at how trucks changed over the years and their presentation to realize which buyers they're targetting.

What did manufacturers improve compared to 10, 20 or 30 years ago? In terms of utility there has been virtually zero progess. Modern trucks are hardly any more space-efficient, economical or capable than they were decades ago. No variable beds, nothing to make loading easier, etc.
However, modern trucks are a lot faster and a lot more comfortable than their ancestors. Two things commercial buyers couldn't care less about, but that are rather important for image buyers that want to drive them to their office.

As for the presentation, just look at Ford's F-150 website for example. Only 4 box styles but 11(!) grille options and 13 different wheel designs, only TWO of which are steel. And the interior of a vehicle that's supposedly intended to be used for work looks like this:

Wow you make it sound like a nice, comfortable interior is something to hate.

[CadiEldo67]

Originally Posted by baloo

hmmm, nice truck, I'll have to get me one of these lol

[mikmak]

A TD V6 Omega Crewman (with AWD) would be an ideal ideal placement in this market. It carries more than the Pontiac ST and gets better economy to boot. Another reason why GMC has missed the boat.