America's truck, the Ford F-150, now a plaything for the rich - Stuff.co.nz
Ford's first F-Series trucks were no-frills workhorses built for no-frills workers, promoted as if they were carved out of stone for the blue-collar, meat-eating, all-American man. Its new Limited model, Ford's most "luxurious truck ever," comes with "genuine fiddleback eucalyptus" trim, heated-and-cooled massaging Mojave leather seats and "unique scuff plates with ice blue backlighting. The truck's turn from rugged backroads to glitz and luxury has driven its price twice as high as the average car or truck sold in the US this year, pricier even than upscale SUVs from Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. But it has also highlighted the growing distance between American trucks' classic market of middle-income buyers, and its newer, more moneyed clientele. "The market has grown quite ravenous for products and features and technology that would be very comparable with luxury cars," said Erich Merkle, a US sales analyst for Ford. The F-150 has become the king of trucks regarded "as much of a status symbol as they are a tool," said Karl Brauer, a senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book. And it's not just that a nation of office jockeys wants a meaty truck to boost their egos: Successful contractors, small-business owners and others are increasingly opting for upgraded trucks. Source: www.stuff.co.nz
