Pickups Make a Haul

By Alexander L. Taylor III

Detroit's small, sprightly trucks are the fastest-moving vehicles

Question: Which is the best-selling vehicle in the U.S.-the Chevrolet Cavalier, Ford Escort or Honda Accord? Answer: None of the above. A pair of pickup trucks, the Ford F-series and Chevrolet's C-series, outsell every passenger car on the market. Indeed, Americans are increasingly turning on to trucks. Says Chrysler President Harold Sperlich: "Car sales are good; truck sales are dynamite." U.S. automakers announced last week that some 3.8 million trucks have been sold this year, an increase of 33%, while car sales have risen 14%.

The strongest-selling models are not 18-wheelers and big commercial carriers, but small trucks, vans and other vehicles that share some features with passenger cars. Many suburban housewives have fallen in love with minivans (estimated 1984 sales: 225,000), and thousands of yuppies are hooked on such off-the-road vehicles as the Chevrolet S-10 Blazer (sales so far this year: 130,727), the American Motors Jeep (79,807) and the Ford Bronco II (91,651). The fastest-moving truck of all is the small pickup. The nine different models of the compact carrier will have combined sales of 1.1 million this year, more than twice as many as in the record year 1978.

The new trucks are a breed apart from their clunky forerunners. They are easier to drive and more comfortable to ride in. Says Lynette Maker, a nurse in Burlington, Wis., of her new Cherokee Chief Jeep: "It has enough room for hauling and doesn't drive like a truck." The vehicles can also be purchased with air conditioning, power seats and expensive stereo equipment. Says Ed Rikess, owner of Southview Chevrolet in St. Paul: "The biggest option is the fanciest music system we can get." One out of four small pickups is sold with four-wheel drive, which provides greater traction on slippery roads and the freedom to gambol across beaches and hills.

Pickups have also developed a sporty, no-nonsense image. Larry Burrough, a Los Angeles newspaper editor who owns a four-wheel-drive Toyota, admits he some times feels "kind of strange pulling up to a nice restaurant with Rolls-Royces and Mercedes in the parking lot, and me in the pickup." But, he quickly adds, "nobody seems to mind." Says AMC Chairman Paul Tippett: "People are finding trucks a reasonable and sophisticated alternative to cars." The vehicles are particularly popular in Western states, where they are viewed as a fuel-efficient, inexpensive way to carry skis and surfboards. One out of every five compact pickups is sold in California.

Truck buyers are young-the median age is around 33-and about one-third of new owners between the ages of 20 and 30 are women. Joan Cheek, of Simi Valley, Calif., passed along her 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass to her son, and now commutes to her job at a hospital in a 1984 Chevy S-10 pickup. Says she: "A lot of women are driving trucks now. It's the thing." Cheek finds her truck handy for carrying groceries and hauling tree trimmings to the dump. She plans to add a metal cap (average price: $270) to cover the open back of the truck so that she can shelter her belongings and use the vehicle to sleep in on camping trips.

As with passenger cars, U.S. manufacturers are fighting strong competition from the Japanese. The first of their compact pickups landed on the docks at Long Beach, Calif., some 35 years ago, but the Datsun never made it to the showroom floor. As legend has it, a driver noticed it on the carrier truck, followed it to the dealer and bought the pickup on the spot. By 1978, every one of the 489,508 compact pickups sold in the U.S. was made in Japan. But Detroit has roared back. General Motors and Ford, which had been importing Japanese vehicles to sell under their nameplates, decided to enter the market on their own. Today GM, which has nearly half of the U.S. car market, also controls 20.6% of the compact-truck business. Ford is a close second, with 19.5% of truck sales.

The Japanese share of the compact-truck market slipped to 41.7% a year ago. Toyota and Nissan, two of the leading Japanese vehicle manufacturers, are third and fourth in the market. While Toyota exports all of its trucks from Japan, Nissan builds 8,000 a month at its new plant in Smyrna, Tenn. The two companies have only 9.5% of the American car business, but they control 38.7% of the light-truck market.

Japanese auto executives are angry at themselves for letting sales ebb away. Recalls one: "We were so cocky that we just went ahead and let all these American engineers take a look at nearly whatever they wanted to in our light-truck plants." Now the Japanese are pushing to improve sales through low prices. Though they face a 25% import duty imposed in 1980, they are unfettered by the quotas that restrict the number of cars they can export to the U.S. A Mazda Sundowner B-2000 can be bought for $5,795. The lowest-cost American-made pickup is the Chevrolet S-10 at $5,900.

Healthy truck sales are a boon to automakers. Trucks are cheaper to build than cars, and hence more profitable, because they contain fewer parts and are restyled less frequently. Detroit's rule of thumb is that trucks provide one-quarter of the industry's total volume but one-third of its profits. At AMC, sales of the Jeep Cherokee and Wagoneer models are the principal reason that the company is expected to report a profit this year for the first time since 1979.

Automakers are confident they can keep on truckin' profitably. "Chris Cedergren, the automotive-industry analyst for J.D. Power & Associates, a West Coast marketing and consulting firm, expects truck sales in 1985 to increase 4.7% more. Buyers will have an even greater assortment of models to choose from in coming years. Both GM and Ford will introduce minivans next year, while AMC and Chrysler are preparing pickups for the 1986 and 1987 model years. -By Alexander L. Taylor III. Reported by Meg Grant/Los Angeles and Paul A. Witteman/ Detroit

With reporting by Meg Grant/Los Angeles, Paul A. Witteman/ Detroit