US car industry in need of a pick-up
Thursday, 11. June 2009, 13:25:32
The recent bankruptcy of General Motors has reminded me of how alien the cars looked to me on my holiday in California last year. Especially weird looking were these squat boxy arse-ugly vehicles that looked like truncated Securicor vans or, perhaps, army personnel carriers.
Ugh.
Turns out these things are called Hummers, they do about 10 yards (sic) to the gallon and, yes, they are made by General Motors.
There was some sort of motor trade show being held while I was in the States – I think it was sponsored by the Detroit League of Undertakers or something – and I was gobsmacked to hear in news coverage of the show that a Ford pick-up truck, the model name of which I can’t remember (F-150?), is the best selling car in the world.
Really? This came as a surprise to me, and was another reminder that one cannot extrapolate one’s own personal experience and apply it to the rest of the world. In any given week in the UK I see, at most, two pick-up trucks (usually Japanese models), so, had you asked me where the Ford F-150 ranked in the global sales league I probably would have said: “I don’t know, but definitely not in the top 50, probably not in the top 100.’
Just goes to show how wrong you can be.
I don’t really understand the popularity of the pick-up, however. Surely it only appeals to builders, farmers and other types who have bulky things they want to transport and who don’t care about them getting wet?
I know, it is a very naive view to believe that people choose their cars on the basis of practicality. It’s like asking lager drinkers to choose their brews based on taste rather than how expensive it is. (£4.50 for a pint of Peroni in London now; £4.50! It is being marketed as a premium brand with a bick feck-off dispensing tap. I do sometimes wonder whether an ale brewer should experiment with a reassuringly expensive pint of bitter priced at, say, £4.99. ‘I’ll have a pint of Gullible, please.’)
I am guessing that driving a pick-up identifies you as an outdoorsy, sporty, down to earth kind of a guy who collects bags of cement as a hobby.
Contrast that with the reputation of white van drivers in Britain, a class of people who are generally regarded as being too bigoted and disrespectful of other drivers to make it as taxi drivers.
Ugh.
Turns out these things are called Hummers, they do about 10 yards (sic) to the gallon and, yes, they are made by General Motors.
There was some sort of motor trade show being held while I was in the States – I think it was sponsored by the Detroit League of Undertakers or something – and I was gobsmacked to hear in news coverage of the show that a Ford pick-up truck, the model name of which I can’t remember (F-150?), is the best selling car in the world.
Really? This came as a surprise to me, and was another reminder that one cannot extrapolate one’s own personal experience and apply it to the rest of the world. In any given week in the UK I see, at most, two pick-up trucks (usually Japanese models), so, had you asked me where the Ford F-150 ranked in the global sales league I probably would have said: “I don’t know, but definitely not in the top 50, probably not in the top 100.’
Just goes to show how wrong you can be.
I don’t really understand the popularity of the pick-up, however. Surely it only appeals to builders, farmers and other types who have bulky things they want to transport and who don’t care about them getting wet?
I know, it is a very naive view to believe that people choose their cars on the basis of practicality. It’s like asking lager drinkers to choose their brews based on taste rather than how expensive it is. (£4.50 for a pint of Peroni in London now; £4.50! It is being marketed as a premium brand with a bick feck-off dispensing tap. I do sometimes wonder whether an ale brewer should experiment with a reassuringly expensive pint of bitter priced at, say, £4.99. ‘I’ll have a pint of Gullible, please.’)
I am guessing that driving a pick-up identifies you as an outdoorsy, sporty, down to earth kind of a guy who collects bags of cement as a hobby.
Contrast that with the reputation of white van drivers in Britain, a class of people who are generally regarded as being too bigoted and disrespectful of other drivers to make it as taxi drivers.
WIDGETIZE