Midsize Trucks Don’t Work? Don’t Tell General Motors!
Up until recently, the midsize truck market consisted of just the Toyota Tacoma and the Nissan Frontier. Everyone else was building a traditional big truck, and that’s it. General Motors jumped into the mix with the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, and people questioned if the truck would be successful. Turns out, it’s doing really well.
Earlier this week, we learned that GM is reshuffling their production scheduling at the plant that churns out the Colorado and Canyon so they can make more trucks. By adding just a few minutes to each shift, by cutting unpaid lunches, they can produce a few more thousand trucks per year. Demand is far outpacing supply.
With all this good news, why aren’t Ford and Ram joining the party?
Ford is staying away from bringing the Ranger to the United States due to the success of the F-150. There are some theories as to why, but basically they’re profitable now without the truck, and people are going to continue to buy Fords regardless of what’s on the market from the competition.
Ram won’t bring a midsize truck here until the four problems with a midsize truck are solved (size, fuel economy, capability, and price). That’s a rational argument and makes sense.
Why is the Colorado and Canyon so successful?
In terms of size, the truck is a bit narrower and a bit shorter than the Silverado and Sierra, but still comparable in size to those trucks from not too long ago. It might barely fit in a garage, but it’s not small like the Ranger was compared to the F-150 of old. I will grant that the Colorado and Canyon meet the smaller requirement, though.
Price is an interesting subject. When I reviewed a Colorado earlier in the year, I was impressed with the truck. But with options, it was still $36,000. That’s a lot of coin. But, it is cheaper than a similarly-equipped Sierra or Silverado, so while that may seem expensive for a midsized truck, it really isn’t.
There’s no question on capability with the Colorado and Canyon. They can’t tow like a full-size truck, but 7,000lbs is plenty for most truck buyers.
From my experience, the only metric that the Colorado doesn’t hit well is fuel economy. During my week, I got about 19 miles-per-gallon in the truck. But there’s a Duramax diesel version coming later this year, and I’m expecting much higher results.
Based on the latest news about increased production, will Ford and Ram get in on the midsize trucks again? I don’t think so. Despite the cost, Ram Trucks is getting 29 miles-per-gallon out of the EcoDiesel in the half-ton pickup. They won’t do midsize until they can get better fuel economy than the Ram 1500 already.
I don’t see Ford ever getting in the game. Ultimately, I think it’ll be GM, Toyota, and Nissan. Just like it always has been.
But I think there’s been a compelling business case made for the midsize truck and General Motors has proven people will buy them.
Chime in with your thoughts in the forum…>>>
