Ford, GM and Chrysler cash in on posh pickups
......... Detroit is cashing in -- and not necessarily because of brands like Lincoln and Cadillac. Rather, it's because of high-end pickup truck and SUVs. The "luxe truck" phenomenon, dressed-up ...
Forum Discussion
Bionic Man wrote:transamz9 wrote:Dadoffourgirls wrote:Bionic Man wrote:
Getting away from the wheels discussion, I for one am happy that the manufactures are offering more features on their vehicles. I love the quality of the leather in my LongHorn, as well as the heated and cooled seats, heated steering wheel, etc.
There is a market for luxury vehicles, and trucks are no exception. I wish that Chrysler/Ford/GM would up the optional luxury levels on all vehicles. If I want a luxury compact car, why should I have to go to Mercedes or BMW?
I would contend that GM does have luxury compact cars. Buick and Cadillac are both divisions of GM. Buick has the Verano, Regal, and Encore. Cadillac has the ATS.
I would also contend that you can get many of the same features on a Chevrolet in the LTZ trim.
Have you looked at a Chrysler 200 lately? The dang things will drive themselves. Ford has a few lux compacts also.
It's what people want that drives this. Standard transmissions are an option now, not available on on most now. Heck, you can't even order a Ram truck with hand crank windows anymore.
It's not just autos either. A lot of our heavy equipment has back up camera's , heated seats, auto greasers, GPS and cruise control. We have a motor grader that don't even have a steering wheel. Every operation is on two joysticks.
And before anyone claims I am just bagging on GM, I will say the same thing about the 200. The redesign has helped, but it still isn't on the same playing field. Someone else mentioned the Grand Cherokee, and while that is one of Chrysler's flagship products, the Overland interior doesn't compele with a 4 year old Porsche Cayenne.
How does the cost of a Porsche Cayenne compare to a Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland? I could afford the Overland, couldn't really afford the Cayenne...would EXPECT the Cayenne to have a better interior, even a 4 yr old one.
When I get into my 1 ton DRW long bed/crew cab/4X4/ cummins equipped Longhorn, I'm in the "lap of luxury"...I've not owned a car yet that could compare with the leather upholstery in this truck and truck is "loaded". It's my daily driver and TV, the wife and I love driving around in it...I like it and the "posh" pickups that are now out there just make them more desirable than before to a lot of people, or they wouldn't be manufacturing them and selling them in the numbers that they are.
