Big-buck trucks defy sales trend
>
> Pickups sag, but top-end models get pricier, stay popular
>
> Amy Wilson
> Automotive News
> January 14, 2008 - 12:01 am ET
>
> DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. executives, who are rolling out the
> Platinum series F-150 at the Detroit auto show, say they don't know
> where the ceiling is for luxury pickups.
>
> The F-150 Platinum, which was scheduled to be unveiled Sunday and
> will go on sale in fall, is the most luxurious F-150 ever, company
> executives boast. It targets wealthy urban buyers, many of whom
> don't haul heavy loads but want to make that style statement - even
> if it costs $50,000.
> The move upward illustrates an oddity of the pickup market. Even as
> sales of full-sized pickups - especially the F series - are falling,
> sales of high-end Ford models are rising.
>
> "Personally, I think that we could go higher," said Patrick
> Schiavone, Ford's design director of North American trucks.
> "Honestly, I think we could do almost a Rolls Royce-level pickup,
> and I am going to find - is it 10,000 or 1,000? I don't know - but I
> will find buyers for that."
>
> Schiavone, who counts the 2009 F-150 as the third generation of
> Ford's flagship that he has worked on, already knows of one buyer.
> After Ford displayed the F-250 Super Chief concept at the 2006
> Detroit auto show, Schiavone received a phone call from an Atlanta > lawyer.
>
> "He said, 'I want to buy the Super Chief. I'll give you $3 million,'
> " the designer recalled.
>
> Schiavone declined. But such experiences convince him that Ford
> hasn't yet found the limits of luxury pickup buyers.
>
> Lux truck
>
> The 2009 F-150 Platinum tops Ford's F-150 lineup. It has
> -- A 5.4-liter V-8 engine
> -- Heated and cooled seats
> -- Power running boards
> -- Brushed aluminum interior panels
> -- Black-and-brown leather interior with tuxedo striping on seats >
> About Platinum
>
> Ford isn't revealing F-150 Platinum prices. But it slots above the
> popular King Ranch series, which had 2007 sales of 37,000 units, or
> 5 percent of F-series sales. The King Ranch starts around $36,000 in
> the F-150 and can near $50,000 with options. A King Ranch version of
> the larger Super Duty can approach $65,000.
>
> King Ranch sales are up from 1,500 when the name was introduced in
> 1999. Ford doesn't break out sales by series and wouldn't provide
> its total luxury-truck numbers.
>
> The Platinum and King Ranch aren't far apart on the luxury scale, an
> official notes. But the Platinum has exclusive features such as
> power running boards and heated and cooled seats. And they target
> different customers. The King Ranch - named for the huge Texas ranch
> bigger than Rhode Island - is aimed at customers who enjoy the
> outdoors and have an affinity for the Southwest.
>
> By contrast, "the Platinum is all about the city," said Schiavone,
> who plans to drive his own around Detroit. The Platinum will be
> available in a crew-cab body style, powered by a 5.4-liter V-8.
> With the King Ranch versions of its F-150 and Super Duty, plus
> Harley- Davidson and Lariat models, Ford's luxury pickup sales have
> risen steadily, an official said.
>
> Soft segment
>
> That luxury-pickup strength is a departure from the rest of the
> segment. Total sales of full-sized pickups fell 3.0 percent in 2007
> and 9.9 percent in 2006. The market-leading F-series showed the
> steepest slide last year, falling 13.2 percent to 690,589 vehicles. >
> General Motors and Dodge officials also say their high-end pickups
> are selling better than lower-line models.
>
> "Since the second quarter of 2006, our 2LT and LTZ models have
> doubled their portion of the overall Silverado sales," Chevrolet
> spokesman Brian Goebel said in an e-mail. The gains come "as more
> and more people are looking for additional creature comforts in > their pickups."
>
> Sales for the top-end Laramie version of the Dodge Ram have remained
> flat as overall Ram sales have fallen, Dodge spokesman Dan Bodene
> said in an e-mail. Because of the Laramie's success, Dodge is moving
> more luxurious features into the Ram's lower price classes.
>
> Ford expects the F-150 Platinum to increase its luxury-truck tally.
> Ford declined to project volume.
> Industry analyst Erich Merkle with IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids, Mich.,
> estimates annual sales for the Platinum of 15,000 to 20,000 units.
> It essentially takes the place of the Lincoln Mark LT as Ford's
> "urban" upscale pickup.
>
> Dealers, product analysts and company sources say the Mark LT will
> be discontinued after the 2008 model year. Ford isn't confirming
> that. Lincoln sold 8,383 Mark LTs in 2007, down from the high of > 12,753 in 2006.
>
> Luxury brand curse
>
> That underscores an interesting twist in the luxury end of the
> pickup market. The entries don't seem to do as well when they carry > luxury badges.
>
> The Mark LT is Lincoln's second pickup flop. Lincoln sold 3,356
> units of the Blackwood pickup during a 15-month run early this
> decade.
> Cadillac's luxury pickup also has slipped. The Escalade EXT posted
> sales of 7,967 in 2007, up from 2006, but well below its high of > 13,494 in 2002.
>
> The lesson there, Merkle says, is that pickups should be sold by
> mass-market brands that can at least claim a connection to the
> workhorse heritage of the vehicles.
> "I don't think a luxury marque has any business on a pickup," he
> said. "Cadillac has no business on a pickup, Lincoln has no business
> on a pickup, no more than I'd want to see a Lexus version of the > Tundra."
>