Sky's the limit: Trucks get more refined and expensive - Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Three continue to add chrome, leather, wood and high-tech features to their pickups to turn vehicles that were once viewed as workhorses into refined, luxurious vehicles that can still tow a boat or haul gear. Over the past several years designers have continued to push the limit, elevating the price of high-end pickups past $50,000 and then past $60,000. And that’s just for the full-size pickups. The average price for most high-end versions of the larger heavy duty pickups exceed $70,000. Today’s top-of-the-line trucks have heated steering wheels, heated and cooled seats, aluminum wheels, along with all of the latest high-tech features... Every time automakers roll out a higher-level truck they discover there is even more demand than they anticipated, leading executives to predict the industry will continue to push the limit. Doug Scott, Ford’s truck group marketing manager, said many of the customers who are paying $50,000 or more for a pickup are paying even more for the horses or horse trailers that the truck is being used to tow. I definitely don’t think this is the limit or the ceiling. With no apparent limit to demand or a ceiling for a top-end price, it’s not surprising to see automakers continuing to pursue more sales with ever more. Source: www.freep.com
