Great Ford F-150 Commercial

[RH77]

So, I'm watching the 'Tube (multitasking with EM ) and the wording of a Ford F-150 commercial caught my attention. It was a comparison where they give the vehicle to people and their friends to drive, etc.

The guy at the end says something like...

"If you need a truck, the F-150 is by far the best".

I like the term Need -- and this is from the manufacturer

Don't get me wrong, the rest of the ad played on that need -- but still, the closing words are interesting.

RH77

[AndrewJ]

wow.

But with plunging sales like that, what else are they gonna do?

Seems like they may be starting to realize (again) that trucks are a niche product.

[Lazarus]

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

wow.

But with plunging sales like that, what else are they gonna do?

Seems like they may be starting to realize (again) that trucks are a niche product.

What do you mean a niche product? Light trucks make up almost 50% of the
market

Some automotive industry researchers have repeatedly forecast that light trucks would fall out of fashion. But auto makers are now so convinced that their high-profit sales of light trucks will continue to rise that they are racing to build light- truck factories and convert car factories to the production of light trucks.

More recent data.

However, by 2007 the situation was reversed, with domestic light trucks
outnumbering domestic cars by nearly 11 million units.

[AndrewJ]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

What do you mean a niche product? Light trucks make up almost 50% of the
market.

Certianly light trucks haven't been a niche product since the first fleet FE standards were enacted in the 70's.
The automakers were quick to find and exploit the light truck loophole, and light trucks have been a huge part of the market ever since.

But if you look back to the 40's and 50's, what were trucks then?
A niche product, everyone else had cars.
The only people with trucks were farmers and the like. Even in the 60's and 70's construction workers and such used vans instead of trucks.

Government creates incentives (unintended as they may be) to make light trucks.

Automakers market light trucks and create "need"

Voila! Trucks take over the market. Until....