Quote:
Originally Posted by frenchsquared
So the 454 SS did not sell?
So the Ford Lighting did not well?
Dodge make a street truck every few years and they do very well. GM is missing the mark here. They have all the parts. Just borrow a few parts from the Camaro and Corvette and actually offer something.
There is a huge market for street trucks. Look at all the guys upgrading them.
Most will want a 4 door version, thats fine offer both.
Making 5 special addition trucks by adding stickers on them is stupid. How about a real lift? how about some real horse power gains?
|
No, and no. And the Dodge street trucks didn't sell well either.
You're letting your judgement be clouded by your desires. I'm sure you're about to tell me, "Oh, well I see Dodge Ram Rumble Bees all the time!" or something like that, but at the same time, you're actively seeking them out because you're an enthusiast. For every Rumble Bee or Lightning you've seen, there were probably hundreds if not thousands of normal, every day Ram 1500s or F-150s that went by without you noticing.
The market for these things is way smaller than you think. It's further complicated by the fact that you're thinking of trucks built and sold in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s and the overall automotive market is nothing like it was back then.
We can debate the stupidity of sticker packages on trucks all day, but in the end, those cost GM relatively little to nothing to create, and consumers who do check those option boxes pay extra for it. It's a win-win.
Creating a low-volume niche street truck with an LT4 or whatever, on the other hand, costs GM a ton of engineering and marketing dollars, and the ROI on it simply isn't there. You're saying GM has all the necessary parts, which they do, but GM isn't Bob's Performance Shop down the street. They can't just hack an LT4 out of a wrecked Z06 and cobble it together with a random transmission and shoehorn it into a Regular Cab Silverado.
If you're going to build a performance truck these days, it's an off roader. Raptor has been pretty successful for Ford, and ZR2 looks to go in the same direction. Those actually make money because there's more of a market.