It's no secret that the pickup truck market is shrinking, with high gas prices as one obvious culprit. In fact, Toyota's ridiculously popular Camry midsize sedan is nipping at the heels of full-size truck stalwarts such as the Chevy Silverado and Ford F-Series. So far this year, General Motors has seen an 18.5 percent decrease in full-size truck sales and a huge 31.5 percent decrease in full-size SUV sales compared to last year. These sobering statistics are forcing GM to reconsider their future product plans. Already testing the waters with its upcoming Pontiac car-based truck and concepts such as the Denali XT, General Motors needs to know just how large of a market will be left and what external forces will continue to impact that dwindling market share.
Mike DiGiovanni, executive director of global market and industry analysis for GM, is leading a research team deep within GM which is "keeping a close eye on full-sized trucks and asking ourselves how much more aggressively we want to enter the crossover space, given where the world is going." So far, his team has figured that the market for big trucks, though shrinking, will still be sizable, though he adds that "all bets are off if oil skyrockets." Hmm, isn't that exactly what oil's been doing lately?
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Mike DiGiovanni, executive director of global market and industry analysis for GM, is leading a research team deep within GM which is "keeping a close eye on full-sized trucks and asking ourselves how much more aggressively we want to enter the crossover space, given where the world is going." So far, his team has figured that the market for big trucks, though shrinking, will still be sizable, though he adds that "all bets are off if oil skyrockets." Hmm, isn't that exactly what oil's been doing lately?
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
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