Luxury Pickups Stray Off the Ranch

 

At Parker Ford we love our luxury trucks! Here is a great article from the Wall Street Journal about the rising popularity of the luxury truck:

Gary Byrd of Kaufman, Texas, uses his Dodge Ram Laramie Longhorn-edition pickup to haul a loaded trailer for work. 'I spend a lot of time in my truck. I use it as my office.'

Ford Motor Co.'s F -0.95% latest model has plush leather seats, a state-of-the-art infotainment system, gobs of chrome, a heated wooden steering wheel—and enough power to haul a trailer of rodeo bulls.
This is America's exceptional kind of premium vehicle, the luxury heavy-duty pickup truck.
Despite the recent rise in fuel prices, the Detroit Three auto makers—Ford, General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC—say demand for these performance vehicles is strong, and they are expanding their trucks' appeal beyond traditional strongholds in the Southwest.

Luxury heavy-duty pickup trucks are straying off the ranch and finding homes in big cities, Joe White reports on Lunch Break.

Besides Platinum editions of Ford's F-250 and F-350 coming out later this year, GMC has the Sierra HD Denali; Chrysler has the Laramie Longhorn and is launching Laramie Limited versions of Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks. They typically sell for $50,000, $60,000 and up—the same price band as the BMW 5-series, the E Class or the Audi A6.
These trucks have certain attributes in common. Most of them roll off the dealer lot with big V-8 diesel engines for towing power and long-haul efficiency. They can tow trailers that weigh eight tons or more and can cost twice as much as the truck. They consume a lot of fuel, but their owners are affluent and willing to pay the cost to have the unique combination of style and function these vehicles provide.

Ford's Platinums will feature a trucker version of Ford's "My Ford Touch" infotainment system, which will have a touch screen that can be operated by a gloved hand and burly round knobs to make it easier to dial up the heat without fussing with the touch screen at all. Navigation, heated and cooled seats, high-grade leather—all standard.

The 2012 Sierra 2500 HD Denali, which starts at $45,000. GMC aims the Denali at entrepreneurs and people who live in and around big cities.

The Ford King Ranch and Dodge Laramie Longhorn models play proudly to Southwestern cultural cues such as saddle leather seats and ornamental stitching in the style of premium western boots. The cowboy aesthetic reflects the strong demand luxury pickups have in the West.
In a global auto industry dominated by small cars and compact crossover wagons, these are a quintessential American product—right down to the healthy helpings of chrome. Luxury pickup buyers "love chrome," says Ford truck marketing manager Doug Scott.
Environmentalists may express shock at the idea of a truck that weighs more than five tons being used for personal transportation. Luxury heavy-duty pickup buyers say the trucks fit their lives and are worth the price.
Gary Byrd, owner of ProLine Panel Systems in Kaufman, Texas, says he drives a Ram Longhorn Laramie 3500 model—a black and gold "dually," meaning it has four wheels in the back, built to handle heavy trailers.
"I spend a lot of time in my truck," he says. "I use it as my office."
Mr. Byrd often hauls a 30-foot trailer loaded with two-ton crates of the decorative panels his business sells and installs on commercial buildings. He's also got a horse trailer. And while he owns a Cadillac Escalade, Mr. Byrd says his Ram 3500 is comfortable enough that he and his family often prefer it to the big SUV.
Exact figures for sales of luxury heavy-duty pickups aren't readily available. But IHS Automotive analyst Bruce Harrison puts total sales of heavy-duty pickups at about 467,000 a year. "Anywhere from 10% to 20% of their sales are in this premium end of the business," he says.

The Platinum edition of Ford's F-250 targets affluent buyers who want style and function.

Ford executives weren't sure two or three years ago that a Platinum model would sell if offered on the Super Duty trucks. Then they watched sales of Platinum F-150 models soar to 6% to 7% of total sales, roughly double their initial projections.
"We haven't found a ceiling to this luxury truck market," says Ford's Mr. Scott.
Kenn Bakowski, head of full size truck marketing for GM's GMC truck brand, says one out of four heavy-duty GMC trucks sold are the luxury Denali models, which start at just over $45,000. GMC positions the Denali as a more subdued alternative to rival Southwestern-themed trucks like the King Ranch, aiming at entrepreneurs and people who live in and around big cities.
"You can go too far," Mr. Bakowski says. "They are not the go-too-far group."
Back in 2007, Hayden Elder, owner of Elder Dodge in Athens, Texas, led a charge among Ram dealers to persuade the company to offer a more luxurious heavy-duty pickup. Teams of engineers and marketers came from Detroit, and Mr. Elder showed them the fancy pickups—including Ford King Ranch models—that were popular among rodeo fans and rodeo teams.
Rodeo people use a big pickup "like a doctor would use a Mercedes to go to work," Mr. Elder says.
Fred Diaz, head of the Ram brand, says he is bullish on the prospects for the forthcoming Laramie Limited, which like the Denali is aiming for luxury truck customers with a more northern sense of style. In 2010, Mr. Diaz says, 9% of light-duty trucks sold cost more than $40,000. In 2011, 13% of light trucks sold cost over $40,000.
"We delivered [a luxury pickup] this morning at 10 a.m.," said Mr. Elder, the Dodge dealer in Texas. "They're buying a molten red and gold, two-tone Longhorn Laramie and they put $25,000 cash down."

About Parker Ford Lincoln, Inc. Parker Ford Lincoln Inc., is a multi-President Award-winning dealership in Murray, Kentucky offering new Ford and Lincoln Cars, Trucks, SUVs and Crossovers. Visit us online at http://www.parkerford.com.