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Originally Posted by jamesqf
I wonder - well, no, I'm actually pretty darn certain that the advertising budgets for those F-series &c are many times higher than for the US automakers more fuel-efficient models. So do Americans [u]actually[u] want to buy them, or are they persuaded by the drumbeat of endless advertising? And conversely, if a lot of people really wanted to buy those things, why do the automakers think they have to spend so much on advertising?
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The average Joe has been persuaded to see the full-size trucks as a part of the American dream, in spite of them being rather crude with their body-on-frame layout and leaf-sprung solid rear axle that didn't really evolve so much in the last 60 years. But it's quite cheap to make, subjected to less stringent fuel-efficiency and emission standards, and can be loaded with so many gadgets to a point that its payload may eventually become ridiculously low in order to remain at a low GVWR class in order to not require a commercial driver license. Then, while an ego-hauler truck might be profitable, the artificially-grown demand for them ends up serving as an excuse to phase out simpler features that would serve just right for many professionals who would be just looking for an affordable workhorse.
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Really, isn't this just more of what we've heard from US automakers ever since the first VW Beetle landed on these shores? "Oh, we can't possibly build cars like that/meet those pollution standards, whine, whine..." Then foreign automakers just go ahead and do it, US automakers lose market share, beg for taxpayer bailouts, then finally manage to sorta catch up - at which point the cycle starts again, after the loss of more market share (and US jobs) to foreign competitors.
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Considering that both Ford and GM were still able to either develop efficiency-enhanced vehicles catering to other markets through their overseas branches or occasionally just outsourcing them, sometimes their domestic market strategies on how to compete with foreign automakers becomes somewhat dumb. For example, why did Ford take so long to introduce the Transit to the American market? Even though the E-Series vans could rely on some parts interchangeability with the F-Series trucks, the enhanced efficiency and practicality of overseas-designed vans and their broader appeal to global markets would not only justify their presence in the domestic market but also become a more valuable asset for export.