J.D. Power Says Large Pickup Sales Continue to Slump
News remains rather dismal for the sales of large pickup trucks in the U.S., as February numbers marked yet another year-over-year slide in J.D. Power’s accounting. Deliveries of the trucks fell by 14.5 percent last month, totaling 153,857 units compared to 179,862 during the same period last year. In total, the large pickup share of the market fell from 13.5 percent to 12.7 percent over one year.
Toyota’s redesigned Tundra saw deliveries climb by 43 percent to 14,400 units, while that vehicle stood out as the only member of the segment to post an increase. Ford’s F-Series outperformed the market, but still saw sales fall by 5 percent to 50,551. Chevrolet’s Avalanche and Nissan’s Titan were the worst of the lot, both trucks saw total sales fall by more than one-third.
While Toyota’s news was the best of a bad group in this segment, even it isn’t coming close to its projected Tundra sales goals. The Japanese automaker has hoped to sell 200,000 Tundra’s this year, but so far has only managed 26,473 in the first two months of 2008. Those numbers put the truck on a pace to under-perform its goal by more than 40,000 sales.
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Comments
FLASHPOINT
Well, the bloom is off that rose. Six months from now these numbers will be the GOOD news.
The Stig
Raise your hand if you're surprised by this news......
hwyhobo
And they needed a research for that? How about a trip to the local gas station?
OPF
The Japanese carmakers
MUST bring diesel engines to keep up. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR NISSAN!??!?
Mena
Nissan is considering killing the Titan so I doubt you'll see a diesel coming from them. Interesting that Tundra sales don't seem affected by the gas prices.
hwyhobo
Sure they are. They took off because they were 0. They are running significantly below expectations. I call that affected:
While Toyota’s news was the best of a bad group in this segment, even it isn’t coming close to its projected Tundra sales goals. The Japanese automaker has hoped to sell 200,000 Tundra’s this year, but so far has only managed 26,473 in the first two months of 2008. Those numbers put the truck on a pace to under-perform its goal by more than 40,000 sales.
Ducati Minor
Truck sales down?
Duh.
BillyBob
Being a F-150 owner..wish someone would steal it...
Was at a Ford dealership the other day "lookin" at new Rangers and was surprized to see that their gas milage rating on the window sticker was LESS than a nearby Shelby 500 Mustang's window sticker milage....and the Ranger was priced ABOVE a new F-150.
Go figure.
06YellowGT
I keep hearing people on here talk about diesel engines. Yesterday, gas was $3.10 for regular unleaded, and $4.05 for diesel... Does the initial additional cost of a diesel engine plus the additional 30% (about) price of fuel really make it a cost effective choice?
Ducati Minor
No. You're paying a premium for the vehicle and the fuel. Diesel is over four bucks here, or fifty cents above regular gas. At its lowest here in California, diesel is the price of premium unleaded. At the lowest...which is rare.
Still, I encourage more diesel trucks. Diesel engines consume much less, and the torque factor makes sense. The truck market needs to have a major shift from people buying a pickup for the sake of making a statement, and those who really need it.
dante
Diesel also lasts longer and holds its value much better so the purchase premium is a non-issue.
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