Trucks making a comeback? Ford adds extra shift, overtime for F-150
The sales of pickup trucks seemingly rise and fall in unison with gas prices. For instance, Ford's newly-redesigned F-150 is selling well enough right now that the Blue Oval has added an extra shift of production at its assembly plant in Kansas City, MO along with approval for scheduled overtime. An extra shift is also being planned for the Dearborn assembly plant. These are the types of "problems" that automakers don't mind dealing with after a successful new product launch.
This sales increase begs an obvious question: just how short is the memory of the average American? The answer is debatable – how much of the uptick is due to lower gas prices and how much is attributable to the truck's redesign? What's more, sales are still down considerably from their peak in 2004, so the pickup market may just be right-sizing itself in the wake of a down housing market, high priced gasoline and the ongoing credit crunch. We'll see for sure in the coming months, but a familiar nameplate is back on top of the sales heap for November at least. Check out our list of the Top Ten Best-Selling Vehicles for November 2008.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Sea Urchin 8:38AM (12/05/2008)
Well i don't think that it is truck that are making come backs, it's just that there are a lot of morons living in USA who never learn their lessons.
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Hamburglar 9:23AM (12/05/2008)
Let me get some towing done in my Honda Civic so a polar bear can have a bigger playground. Oh wait.
Frylock350 9:32AM (12/05/2008)
Its people like you that make me enjoy commuting to work in an 8 passenger Suburban all by my lonesome. When I bought my Suburban I learned my lesson alright. I learned that its a fantastic vehicle and I've been an idiot for not buying one sooner.
Cash 4:48PM (12/05/2008)
Frylock, keep on trucking. The rest of the educated world will continue to point and laugh at you, while inferring you have a small pecker.
Randy 10:29AM (12/05/2008)
@Sea Urchin
You ain't from around here are you...
Yee Haw
Richard 10:32AM (12/05/2008)
Gas is cheap!
Margins on the F-150 are among Ford's best.
What's to argue?
Better margins for Ford now mean less money I have to loan them and less "management fee" that Barney Frank and his boyz take off the top.
John Johnson 8:41AM (12/05/2008)
This sales increase begs an obvious question: just how short is the memory of the average American?
^I LOL'ed. Like a goldfish.
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Polly Prissy Pants 11:37AM (12/05/2008)
Exactly. And then when the economy rebounds and gas spikes again everyone will be blaming Ford for being so stupid and building all those trucks that are polluting the environment and sending money to terrorists.
Or maybe they'll realize that it's people, not the car companies, who willfully and wantonly burn gasoline at a prodigious rate without a care in the world. But I doubt it.
Big Rocket 1:16PM (12/05/2008)
@Polly Prissy Pants: Or maybe, just maybe, Ford will have learned its lesson, and diversify their product portfolio to include a mix of competitive cars, trucks and SUVs, big and small, so they will always have something to offer to changing consumer demands.
Josiah 8:44AM (12/05/2008)
I expect a rude awakening for F-150 owners when the economy recovers in 2010-11, they are in the middle of their car loan and gas prices are suddenly back near $4-5/gallon.
Rinse, repeat.
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Joe 9:00AM (12/05/2008)
Will they?
The 2009 F-150 gets 21 MPG from a 320 HP 5.4L V8. My 2003 Taurus with a 200 HP 3.0L V6 gets 24, at best. The utility of a truck more than makes up for the 3 MPG.
I can't haul plywood or drywall. Can your Pious?
Dan 11:24AM (12/05/2008)
No, the 2WD fuel economy edition F-150 is rated 21 mpg highway.
If you have the kind of foot to get 24 at best out of a 5 year old Taurus you can look forward to around 15 out of a truck. Maybe 16 if it's the fuel economy edition.
Jake 8:47AM (12/05/2008)
How ignorant is the average person who with much hubris and arrogance calls other people that he/she has never me "morons" or "goldfish" simply because others don't make the same buying decisions as them?
Perhaps people expereinced the big artifical gasoline price bubble, realized that it wasn't the end of the world and are now buying that truck that they want or need regardless. Eyes wide open.
Ford management is called incompetent for not making products people want in a global car market slump and now Ford customers are being called names for buy products that they WANT from Ford.
Same old, same old mentality from the stupid critics. You're stupid if you don't make vehicles that people don't want. Customers are stupid for not buying vehicles that you want them to want. Ford is stupid for making the best selling vehicle on Earth for decades because people want it. Blah, blah, blah...
Git 'r done, Ford.
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Joe 8:58AM (12/05/2008)
Preach the gospel, Jake!
Chubaka 9:04AM (12/05/2008)
What you said might be right or at least truthful, but i still get the feeling that the general consensus of poor buying decisions isn't all wrong. Aside from people who really need pick-ups, purchasing these vehicles just doesn't seem like a sound idea, especially from what's been going on with our tanking economy. From my limited experience and knowledge, many American families have more cars than family members, and add to the fact that they tend to purchase things beyond what they can afford. Just take a glance at what happened on Black Friday; people will gobble up deals like crazy, and even kill each other for them. You might say US = consumerism at its maximum. But now I digress...
finc.jb 9:05AM (12/05/2008)
I don't really like Ford that much, but I'm happy to see them moving enough product that they have to start an extra shift.
Good for you Ford.
MTU 5.0 9:06AM (12/05/2008)
Well said.
Chubaka 9:07AM (12/05/2008)
i don't have anything against Ford, but I wish they would bring over some of the European models! Or is that too much to ask for?
TJ 9:58AM (12/05/2008)
Spot on Jake.
For has a created a product where demand is currently high. What's the issue?
JZeke 10:38AM (12/05/2008)
I think theres a link to large pickup truck buyers and the brain-drain that has been happening in rural America since the 1950s.
Statistically most large pickups are sold in rural economies, in heartland states and far from economic city centers.
Obviously the most obvious reason is because a truck is a stupid city car, and on a farm the abilities of a good truck are without question.
But would rural America feel the need to constantly buy new things it goes in debt for, if they were as well educated as their city counterparts?
I mean, its one thing to go out and buy a new vehicle because your old one finally broke, is functionally damaged or is dangerous. But if you live on a farm, have a 5-year-old workhorse, why do you need a 2009 version?
If you're in debt up to your eyeballs already, what advantages does this new model confer to your already twice-mortgaged life?
Im all for the F150. I'm also all for Americans reducing their debt burdens. Ultimately I can't imagine producing a lot of trucks helps the people, it only helps the bank sheets at FoMoCo.