Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - 07:13 pm, by: Wayne Womersley(A49kidx)
A December 2005 Publication
American are going crazy over Bigger and Bigger “Pickups”.
THE Dinosaur! is far from dead in the United States. Rising fuel prices aren't stopping America's passion for huge Ford F-Series pickup trucks. And that includes some Billy Bobs who have bypassed the "tiny" F-350 (a mere 3.2 tonnes) and even the "biggish" F-550 (five tonnes) for the gigantic F-650, six tonnes of gas-guzzling monster. Before taking over the top job at Ford Australia, Tom Gorman was general manager for the company's car and truck sales in the US. A big fan of the F-Series, Gorman understands his countrymen's fascination with the Pickups, but even he is amazed at some of the machines being driven around as “Personal Transport”. ( supermarket and the school pickups) "Man, that's a big TRUCK," Gorman says of the one pictured above.' 'Look at those wheels. "These trucks aren't for work. They're personal use trucks, sort of Big Toys for Big Boys." (with little toys)! Gorman says he's aware of the effort some Americans put into what are supposed to be work vehicles??. The closest Australian equivalent is the ute culture, but many utes are more like two-door sports cars than highway haulers. "What you see in the US is a lot of customising of vehicles," he says. "America is very much a pickup truck market. Last year we sold more than 940,000 F-Series trucks, so you see a lot of F-150s and F-250s that have had so much done to them they are like a luxury!! car. "But you don't see many F-650 or F-750 trucks on the road and you certainly wouldn't see many that are personalised to this level. "People around the world are passionate about the cars and trucks!! they drive — it's no different in America than it is in Australia — but I admit this is an extreme example." Ford commercial vehicles marketing manager Christine Wagner says monster vehicles like the F-650 serve a “useful purpose” and are not just for”posers”. 'Normally they are for towing a horse float or a boat that's as big as a house," she says. "The most striking thing is the passion of these guys for their vehicles." The huge pickups would struggle to fit on some country roads, let alone suburban streets. Gorman says they'd be a hit in Australia, but Ford has no plans to import anything bigger than the F-350. 'I don't think you're going to see that on the Monash Freeway," he says.