soren wrote:
RobertRyan wrote:
Dayle1 wrote:
RobertRyan wrote:
If the US manufacturers want to sell Globally( Hedge against a downturn, excess vehicles in stock) They would have too see what Pickups if any can be sold directly from the factory too overseas locations, without much modification. Japanese do this rather well
Your "if" is totally incorrect. US manufacturers don't need to sell trucks in Australia. In the NA market, trucks generate the most profit $$. Other truck markets are too small with extra costs that would have a negative impact on profits. US manufacturers are looking for a larger share of large markets (like China) and the type of vehicles that those markets want, which isn't HD trucks. You said it yourself, Australia is a very diverse market that is also small. It isn't a key part of their strategy which is maintaining their strength in the NA truck market while trying their best to compete in large emerging car markets.
No if the market stalls, then a reserve or new market is required. Nissan is or was going to too do it with their Titan XD. they were looking at Russia, Australia, Mid East as potential markets
Nissan’s global boss of commercial vehicles, Ashwani Gupta, says the company is looking at producing the Titan full-size pickup truck for markets outside of North America, including right-hand drive (RHD) countries such as Australia.
Sales of Nissan’s Ford F-Series rival are up more than 200 per cent this year, with more than 40,000 units sold. Some of these buyers are apparently pinched from the Ford, or other rivals such as the Ram 1500/2500, Chevrolet Silverado and Toyota Tundra, but some are also existing Nissan SUV owners or those upsizing from the Navara.
You do realize that even though the Titan's 40K would be a GIANT number for Australia, it is less than HALF of the number of F-150 sold LAST MONTH, in the states. Since you provide helpful info. about your country, let's take a minute to learn about mine. Nissan USA is somewhere between a bit player, and a non-event here. I would bet that a significant percentage of our citizens are unaware that Nissan even produces a full sized pickup, even though they have been flailing at the attempt for fifteen years now. Spreading 40K units over this vast country amounts to 800 per state. Which puts them in Unicorn territory. I live in a densely populated area. I can drive for days and never pass a Titan. I also have never seen one used for any commercial purpose, other than the occasional one pulling a small trailer with a lawn mower, that may or may not be owned by a very small time landscape contractor. Here Nissan is Know for less than great cars, CTVs that continually fail, and finding financing for customers that can barely fog a mirror. Believe me, if Nissan decides to build RHD Titans for the Australian market, don't get too excited. It's a third class product that will make Aussie buyers long for the Fords they no longer have access to.
Not large numbers for Australia either. Going by your logic, Ford US should be designing the next Ranger and the current Transit Van. They have done neither,