View Poll Results: Will the Pickup survive ?
Yes, I think it will survive & be more fuel efficent
12
63.16%
No, it will fade away & be for commerical sales only
2
10.53%
Maybe, I don't know, but I like a vehicle witha BED
2
10.53%
I don't care
3
15.79%
I want me a pick me `Up Truck...4-Ever - 4-$ure
5
26.32%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 19. You may not vote on this poll
Will the Pickup Truck Survive?
Will the Pickup Truck Survive?
Will the Pickup Truck Survive?
High fuel prices and political pressure for higher efficiency ratings have cast a dark shadow on the future of the pickup. Fortunately, it definitely still has a future. MCF Member's, what do you think ?
Post your thoughts....Do you care ?
<CITE sizcache="63" sizset="122">By Tom Wilson of MSN Autos</CITE>
Click to enlarge picture
Ram 3500 Laramie Longhorn
With gas prices on the rise again and government policymakers pushing harder than ever for a 54.5 mpg corporate average fuel-economy (CAFE) standard by 2025, the future of the pickup truck has come into question. Is there any hope for something as thirsty as the pickup? What will one look like in 13 years?
The short answer: You bet there's a future. As long as farmers and construction workers need to carry big stuff around this big country to keep it healthy and evolving, there will be pickup trucks.
What will a pickup look like in a decade or so? That's a harder question to answer. Pickups will always have a bed for cargo and a cab for driver and passengers. Past those givens, it's almost anyone's guess. However, some trends are emerging that give us "seasoned pros" some insight.
Bing Images: Super Duty Trucks
The Big Truck Peak
First you have to look at what is happening now to see where we might be going tomorrow.
Why Trucks Are Cool
View more MSN videosGo to Road Raves
Today, the pickup sits atop an apex of power and capacity. For years, the trend was to build ever larger, more powerful trucks, culminating in today's locomotive-like Heavy- or Super-Duty models of the Chevy Silverado, Dodge Ram and Ford F-Series. The same can be said of full-size trucks.
When the economy was roaring, these beasts were the macho pinnacle of personal-use transport. Powered by V8 turbodiesel engines with up to 800 lb-ft of torque, these bruisers can carry more than 7,000 pounds or tow well over 20,000 pounds. While capable of mileage figures upward of 25 mpg under good conditions, they still typically return sub-20 mpg averages in the hustle of daily use.
During the same time, compact trucks all but disappeared. Simple economics played the major role in downplaying compact trucks. Given second-hand treatment by automakers because their larger trucks were more profitable, the small pickups weren't updated, and they couldn't compete with full-size pickups in terms of features, capability or even fuel efficiency.
Read: Pickups Aren't Just for Contractors
Furthermore, other vehicle types, such as small SUVs, pecked away at the compact pickup's once-powerful status as the rugged individualist's fiscally conservative daily transport. Ultimately, such factors killed Ford's Ranger compact pickup last year and the first-generation Chevrolet Colorado this year, and have left the Dodge Dakota and Nissan Frontier unchanged for years.
Now in the era of fiscal conservatism — that is, making ends meet now matters more than how big your engine is — the big beasts are becoming less attractive.
Starting Over
Big rigs aren't going away, per se. They simply won't be bought in volume anymore by suburbanites looking for a good time. Instead, the weekend hauling jobs will increasingly go to the standard full-size pickups with their ever more powerful and fuel-efficient powertrains.
View Slideshow: Pump-Wise Pickups
Ford has led the way in this transition with the unexpectedly popular pairing of its F-150 and the brand-new 365-horsepower EcoBoost V6 engine. Blessed with a gutsy 420 lb-ft of torque and an 11,500-pound towing rating, the EcoBoost F-150 can get mid-20s fuel economy in runabout mode. That's a full-size truck that can be lived with daily, yet has the beans to tote or haul the fun stuff to the lake, desert or mountains on weekends.
Chevrolet promised to up the full-size ante with its recent announcement of a next-generation small-block V8 engine with direct fuel injection. Rumor has it the new Chevy V8 will downsize to 5.5 liters and deliver more than 400 horsepower at less cost than Ford's EcoBoost twin-turbo arrangement.
Find new and used cars with the new MSN Autos mobile app, available on multiple platforms.
Click to enlarge picture
Chevrolet Colorado
Furthermore, Chevy just committed to midsize pickups with an all-new Colorado. Built in Thailand and already selling strongly in Taiwan, the new Colorado is a "world truck," designed for assembly and sale around the globe. When it arrives in the United States soon, the Colorado will be built in General Motor's Wentzville, Mo., plant, but there's no official word on what engines the new midsize will offer. In Thailand, Chevy is selling the Colorado with either a 2.5-liter 150-horsepower or a 2.8-liter 180-horsepower turbodiesel 4-cylinder engine.
Purpose-Built Trucks
Here's where the crystal ball goes foggy. Obviously, both Ford and Chevrolet can't be correct about the short-term future of the midsize truck. Who turns out to be right depends mainly on fuel costs. The more expensive fuel gets, the better smaller trucks look. Since we are betting men, we'd say higher fuel costs are a given. So look for more purpose-built compact pickups to emerge.
Take, for example, the whispered possible return of half-car, half-truck vehicles, such as the classic Chevy El Camino and Ford Ranchero. GM sells plenty of these in Australia, and the concept certainly has merit for those who are interested in fuel economy and carlike handling, but who still have light-hauling chores to perform. There's nothing official from Detroit, but clearly U.S. buyers would be far more interested in a stylish car-based utility than frumpy commercial alternatives such as Ford's Transit Connect.
Read: The Best Trucks on the Road
The Future
The truck crystal ball goes opaque from here on out. The caution comes from the rapid pace of technology; no one can say what battery breakthroughs will take place or what the price of fossil fuels will be in just four years. Clearly hybrid technology isn't cost-effective enough to enter the full-size pickup segment yet; GM's attempt with the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra Hybrid pickups met with showroom silence. But who's to say that won't change in, say, the next five years?
Our take is that Detroit is wrong concerning compact trucks. Yes, "truck people" naturally migrate to full-size pickups. But the Big Three missed the boat on small trucks 40 years ago when Datsun and Toyota cleaned house with compact pickups that were affordable and fuel-efficient and that filled a need for light hauling without the bulk of a full-size rig. Today, given global economies of scale, small trucks can sell competitively, even here in the land of "bigger is better."
Compare: Ford F-150 vs. Chevrolet Silverado 1500 vs. Ram 1500
We also think electronic traction control and electronic differentials will reduce dependence on 4-wheel drive, saving cost, weight and, thus, fuel.
But perhaps the answer is even simpler: The bravest of the new world will not own a pickup, but simply rent one when needed. Buying something as specialized as a pickup makes no sense, futurists say, especially when self-driving pickups may soon be easily available via your cell phone. We'll see.
Longtime Road & Track contributor Tom Wilson's credits include local racing championships, three technical engine books and hundreds of freelance articles.
Related Content
High fuel prices and political pressure for higher efficiency ratings have cast a dark shadow on the future of the pickup. Fortunately, it definitely still has a future. MCF Member's, what do you think ?
Post your thoughts....Do you care ?
<CITE sizcache="63" sizset="122">By Tom Wilson of MSN Autos</CITE>
Click to enlarge pictureRam 3500 Laramie Longhorn
With gas prices on the rise again and government policymakers pushing harder than ever for a 54.5 mpg corporate average fuel-economy (CAFE) standard by 2025, the future of the pickup truck has come into question. Is there any hope for something as thirsty as the pickup? What will one look like in 13 years?
The short answer: You bet there's a future. As long as farmers and construction workers need to carry big stuff around this big country to keep it healthy and evolving, there will be pickup trucks.
What will a pickup look like in a decade or so? That's a harder question to answer. Pickups will always have a bed for cargo and a cab for driver and passengers. Past those givens, it's almost anyone's guess. However, some trends are emerging that give us "seasoned pros" some insight.
Bing Images: Super Duty Trucks
The Big Truck Peak
First you have to look at what is happening now to see where we might be going tomorrow.
Why Trucks Are Cool
View more MSN videosGo to Road Raves
Today, the pickup sits atop an apex of power and capacity. For years, the trend was to build ever larger, more powerful trucks, culminating in today's locomotive-like Heavy- or Super-Duty models of the Chevy Silverado, Dodge Ram and Ford F-Series. The same can be said of full-size trucks.
When the economy was roaring, these beasts were the macho pinnacle of personal-use transport. Powered by V8 turbodiesel engines with up to 800 lb-ft of torque, these bruisers can carry more than 7,000 pounds or tow well over 20,000 pounds. While capable of mileage figures upward of 25 mpg under good conditions, they still typically return sub-20 mpg averages in the hustle of daily use.
During the same time, compact trucks all but disappeared. Simple economics played the major role in downplaying compact trucks. Given second-hand treatment by automakers because their larger trucks were more profitable, the small pickups weren't updated, and they couldn't compete with full-size pickups in terms of features, capability or even fuel efficiency.
Read: Pickups Aren't Just for Contractors
Furthermore, other vehicle types, such as small SUVs, pecked away at the compact pickup's once-powerful status as the rugged individualist's fiscally conservative daily transport. Ultimately, such factors killed Ford's Ranger compact pickup last year and the first-generation Chevrolet Colorado this year, and have left the Dodge Dakota and Nissan Frontier unchanged for years.
Now in the era of fiscal conservatism — that is, making ends meet now matters more than how big your engine is — the big beasts are becoming less attractive.
Starting Over
Big rigs aren't going away, per se. They simply won't be bought in volume anymore by suburbanites looking for a good time. Instead, the weekend hauling jobs will increasingly go to the standard full-size pickups with their ever more powerful and fuel-efficient powertrains.
View Slideshow: Pump-Wise Pickups
Ford has led the way in this transition with the unexpectedly popular pairing of its F-150 and the brand-new 365-horsepower EcoBoost V6 engine. Blessed with a gutsy 420 lb-ft of torque and an 11,500-pound towing rating, the EcoBoost F-150 can get mid-20s fuel economy in runabout mode. That's a full-size truck that can be lived with daily, yet has the beans to tote or haul the fun stuff to the lake, desert or mountains on weekends.
Chevrolet promised to up the full-size ante with its recent announcement of a next-generation small-block V8 engine with direct fuel injection. Rumor has it the new Chevy V8 will downsize to 5.5 liters and deliver more than 400 horsepower at less cost than Ford's EcoBoost twin-turbo arrangement.
Find new and used cars with the new MSN Autos mobile app, available on multiple platforms.
Click to enlarge picture
Chevrolet Colorado
Furthermore, Chevy just committed to midsize pickups with an all-new Colorado. Built in Thailand and already selling strongly in Taiwan, the new Colorado is a "world truck," designed for assembly and sale around the globe. When it arrives in the United States soon, the Colorado will be built in General Motor's Wentzville, Mo., plant, but there's no official word on what engines the new midsize will offer. In Thailand, Chevy is selling the Colorado with either a 2.5-liter 150-horsepower or a 2.8-liter 180-horsepower turbodiesel 4-cylinder engine.
Purpose-Built Trucks
Here's where the crystal ball goes foggy. Obviously, both Ford and Chevrolet can't be correct about the short-term future of the midsize truck. Who turns out to be right depends mainly on fuel costs. The more expensive fuel gets, the better smaller trucks look. Since we are betting men, we'd say higher fuel costs are a given. So look for more purpose-built compact pickups to emerge.
Take, for example, the whispered possible return of half-car, half-truck vehicles, such as the classic Chevy El Camino and Ford Ranchero. GM sells plenty of these in Australia, and the concept certainly has merit for those who are interested in fuel economy and carlike handling, but who still have light-hauling chores to perform. There's nothing official from Detroit, but clearly U.S. buyers would be far more interested in a stylish car-based utility than frumpy commercial alternatives such as Ford's Transit Connect.
Read: The Best Trucks on the Road
The Future
The truck crystal ball goes opaque from here on out. The caution comes from the rapid pace of technology; no one can say what battery breakthroughs will take place or what the price of fossil fuels will be in just four years. Clearly hybrid technology isn't cost-effective enough to enter the full-size pickup segment yet; GM's attempt with the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra Hybrid pickups met with showroom silence. But who's to say that won't change in, say, the next five years?
Our take is that Detroit is wrong concerning compact trucks. Yes, "truck people" naturally migrate to full-size pickups. But the Big Three missed the boat on small trucks 40 years ago when Datsun and Toyota cleaned house with compact pickups that were affordable and fuel-efficient and that filled a need for light hauling without the bulk of a full-size rig. Today, given global economies of scale, small trucks can sell competitively, even here in the land of "bigger is better."
Compare: Ford F-150 vs. Chevrolet Silverado 1500 vs. Ram 1500
We also think electronic traction control and electronic differentials will reduce dependence on 4-wheel drive, saving cost, weight and, thus, fuel.
But perhaps the answer is even simpler: The bravest of the new world will not own a pickup, but simply rent one when needed. Buying something as specialized as a pickup makes no sense, futurists say, especially when self-driving pickups may soon be easily available via your cell phone. We'll see.
Longtime Road & Track contributor Tom Wilson's credits include local racing championships, three technical engine books and hundreds of freelance articles.
Related Content
Last edited by Space; Mar 27, 2012 at 05:11 AM.
Since I'm from a 'hick' town I definitely don't see the truck going anywhere, I can drive just about anywhere and on my way I will see a range of trucks from the years '85-2012, which is fine by me because I'm a huge pickup fan, I love truck exhaust and being able to haul just about anything I want
Since I'm from a 'hick' town I definitely don't see the truck going anywhere, I can drive just about anywhere and on my way I will see a range of trucks from the years '85-2012, which is fine by me because I'm a huge pickup fan, I love truck exhaust and being able to haul just about anything I want
and WoW
Some eat pretty good on the farm 4-Sure
then one of them went on a diet & took the pic below
I shall close this post with a Chevy Truck Load
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Let `go Truck'in 4-Sure ....Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Last edited by Space; Mar 27, 2012 at 08:08 AM.
Thanks `Mitch for your post & thoughts...Yes, I've seen some of the things you've picked `up in a pick me `up truck
[SIZE=4]
and WoW
Some eat pretty good on the farm 4-Sure
then one of them went on a diet & took the pic below
I shall close this post with a Chevy Truck Load
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Let `go Truck'in 4-Sure ....Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
[SIZE=4]
and WoW
Some eat pretty good on the farm 4-Sure
then one of them went on a diet & took the pic below
I shall close this post with a Chevy Truck Load
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Let `go Truck'in 4-Sure ....Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I tend to stay near the car clubs and not the 'truckers' lol
i highly doubt pickups are going anywhere. I think there will always be a demand/need for them for people to haul stuff and work. Plenty of pickups around here and i wouldn't mind pickin up one myself.
Monte Of The Month -- March 2013
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 8,442
From: michigan
People will always need trucks with all the activities they are involved in these days. I don't own one now but before the monte I always had 1 for a daily driver. I like to be able to haul a large item or a load of gravel if I want to so i may get another one soon.
