Chrysler, Ford paint red, white and blue picture

[RamboLiberal]

Source: MSNBC

DETROIT - With sales of pickup trucks slipping, Ford and Chrysler are tugging on American heartstrings at this year’s Detroit auto show, painting themselves in red, white and blue to capture customers in an increasingly competitive market.

Ford, for example, unveiled its redesigned F-150 pickup Sunday flanked by all-American cultural icons including country singer Toby Keith, professional bull rider Justin McBride and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Rick Crawford.

Chrysler went one better, handing out Dodge-brand beef jerky and introducing its revamped Ram pickup with a posse of bull-whipping cowboys and driving a herd of 120 cattle past a corral of shivering journalists outside Detroit’s Cobo Center.

In both cases, the aim was unambiguous — automakers want to stimulate sales, which sagged last year as the housing market sank and construction activity declined. U.S. sales of pickup trucks, which are highly profitable for the automakers, fell 6 percent in 2007, while overall U.S. vehicle sales declined by 3 percent.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22640152/

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Country music star Toby Keith, left, and Mark Fields, Ford's president for the Americas, present the 2009 Ford F-150 pickup at the Detroit auto show.

Oh yeah just what America needs - a truck it costs $100 to fill the tank! Want to be patriotic Detroit. Tout fuel efficiency, get more affordable hybrids, get electric cars/trucks, quit building and touting the gas guzzlers.

[Cant trust em]

1. Maybe sales of pickup trucks are slipping because...

no one wants to buy ridiculously sized vehicles anymore when oil is priced in the triple digits.

[susanna]

22. Laborers use these trucks

for a purpose. That's why they still (and will likely always) sell in such high numbers regardless of gas prices. The sales figures of these trucks (500,000+ a year for most brands) vs. passenger cars are pretty impressive, in case you're interested. Work trucks are useful, period.

Now, if you want me to agree with you on how SUVs were bought by folks who never needed them, I'm right there behind you.

[CRF450]

26. Thats right, their will always be a market for trucks, big and small.

And as many heavy labor jobs as their is right now, they will still sell in big numbers.

[Toots]

27. Are you suggesting Ford 150's are better than the Toyota truck?

Get better mileage or built more rugged?

[jakefrep]

31. They already are...and always have been

Toyota full-size trucks are crap.

[CRF450]

33. The last generation Tundra was a piece of crap, the new one is...

Is hugely improved, and can do jobs right up their with the domestics. But it doesn't get any better fuel milage, in fact in many cases it gets worse, and the Ford F series has the strongest frame.

[trogdor]

28. Come see our parking lot.

At my white-collar place of employment. You'll see more than a few of these trucks. Yep. They're used to haul all them ones and zeros around. A large box of 'em can be pretty heavy.

[Cant trust em]

29. Not all people who buy those trucks are laborers

I've seen a lot of these trucks that have never seen a speck of dirt or hauled a load of cargo. I'm not talking about a tiny sliver of the truck buying population either. Not all of the guys targeted in Chevy's ads work at a construction site.

Trucks that use a lot of gas, but are used for work purposes are fine.

[CRF450]

32. And?

When you see a truck with one passenger for the 1 to 3 minutes your close by it on the road, do you know if that driver is going to the hardware store, a construction site, or some other duty that trucks are made for? Or is that driver just out cruising around? Dont make blind assumptions about what you see.

When I'm working, I have alot of pool & spa cleaning equipment and chemicals in the bed of my truck, and I have a tonnaeu cover on the bed so none of the chemicals get wet if it rains. Are you going assume that I'm just out cruising around, wasting gas because I'm by myself, no construction/cleaning equipment visible, and not a speck of dirt on my truck?

[Cant trust em]

34. Why are you taking this personally?

I'm not saying that there aren't a majority of people who own trucks that use them for their work. But it is stupid to believe that all people who own trucks need the trucks because of business reasons.

[CRF450]

35. I'm aware of that.

I just hate seing people make blind assumtions so much about a certain vehicle they see on the road for only a couple minutes, and are not aware of that driver's daily lifestyle.

[Cant trust em]

36. Have you come across this discussion before?

Sounds like you've had an existing wound that I tore the scab off of, so to speak.

[CRF450]

37. We have a family friend (a dem too) that despises of trucks and SUV's

I have an 04 Dodge Dakota, 4x4, 4 door with the 4.7 v8.



She wont stop buggin me about it, mostly because it averages around 16mpg, but she also thinks its way more than I need. I dont just use it for hauling cleaning equipment around (which a compact 4cyl truck is more than capable of doing), I also use it for hauling my dirtbike to other tracks/trails, theirs been numerous times I needed it for towing something, and sometimes when we go the MX tracks and dirtbike trails, I'll have 4 other passengers riding along.

When I'm working I dont do much more than just drive up to the cottage houses and get to work on the pools and hot-tubs. A small compact truck wouldn't have a problem with that, the problem is though, I cant afford to buy and insure another vehicle at the moment, and do all that just for an extra 6mpg. Theirs no point in me doing that. And a truck is the only vehicle I will use for the job, becuase its not a good idea to have pool chemicals in an inclosed space.

Besides all that, I really enjoy the Dakota. I can tow around 6500lbs, rides smooth, easy to park since it turns pretty sharp for a truck, has a car-like ride, decent acceleration (personally I think it needs around 300hp like the new 08's, 230hp in a 6,000lbs vehicle isn't really that quick), and I like its size. Its not too big, and not too small.

I looked at the Toyota Tacoma's in the same configuration before I bought this truck, but they were still pretty expensive.

[Cant trust em]

39. Key phrase being

"won't stop bugging me". Your friend needs to put it in perspective and understand that in an ideal world you'd buy that other truck. Sadly, reality and finances set in and it will have to wait until this truck dies. Like I said in my previous posts, if someone really needs the truck for work, then rock on.

[CRF450]

40. I probably would, but I dont know....

I dont really want a small compact truck anyways. If mine dies, I'd probably another one like it, if only the automakers can up the fuel milage on these. GM is releasing a new hybrid Silverado, they clame it can get 20mpg in the city. As much as I'd love to have that, they're way out of my price range!

[LanternWaste]

51. I live in TX so yeah... I'm going to assume

I live in TX so yeah... I'm going to assume that the vast majority of pick up trucks I see are not work trucks. A safe assumption to make, too.

Sorry, man-- too many people who buy full size pick ups buy them merely for the self-validation.

[Aristus]

46. For every pickup truck I see that is dusty, rusty, and loaded down with all kinds of freight,

I see at least two or three gi-normous aircraft-carrier-sized pickup trucks that are clean, pristine, gleaming, immaculate and carrying nothing in the cargo bed but raindrops. It's a macho status symbol for many guys, and damn the gas prices, they probably think. When you're compensating for a micro-penis, no amount is too much to pay...

:popcorn:

[pipoman]

2. Are these trucks even made/assembled in the USA

or are they just appealing to consumers to buy the American nameplate to increase the corporate elite's profit sharing and bonuses and to pump up share prices? I am tired of the "Big 3" putting the guilt trip on to "buy American" while abandoning American workers for cheap/slave labor.

[Medical Speaking]

3. Pipoman

You said it like it is. I lost my job at the Kellogg Co. when they outsourced my job to Mexico.
Right On cheap/slave labor.

[CRF450]

15. Right much of them are made in Mexico and Canada

Their are some models being made here in the US. My 04 Dakota was, most of my Trans Am was built in Canada while the engine (dunno about the transmission) was built in Michigan.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. Here's a cute one to add here: Detroit's 'new' idea: Cars Americans want

As U.S. automakers make a renewed push with new car models, even some executives say it'll be tough to win back customers lost to Toyota and Honda.

DETROIT (CNNMoney.com) -- Detroit automakers are in the process of rediscovering cars.

The question is whether it's too little and too late.

Even though light trucks, including SUV's, pickups and minivans now have a majority of U.S. sales, sales of compact and midsize sedans still have a large segment of the market. Non-luxury midsize sedans, which generally fetch between $20,000 and $25,000, account for more than one-in-five vehicles here last year.

And while sales of those models slipped slightly in 2007, they held up better than those segments where Detroit has put much of its attention for the last decade -- SUV's and large pickup trucks.

Even some Detroit auto executives are now admitting that the Big Three made a big mistake betting so big on light trucks at the expense of car models.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/14/news/companies/detroits_cars/index.htm?postversion=2008011414

Imagine that. They're actually considering building cars that people want to buy again rather than telling people to want what they build. What is this country coming to?

[daleo]

5. Patriotism

The last refuge of corporate scoundrels.

[customerserviceguy]

44. That's a Samuel Johnson quote

After Dr. Johnson said patriotism was the last refuge of a scoundrel, the cynic Ambrose Bierce amended it with, "I beg to submit that it is the first." Then H.L. Mencken jumped in: "But there is something even worse: it is the first, last and middle range of fools."

I seem to remember patriotism being used to deprive us of freedom with the Patriot Act.

[ContraBass Black]

6. They're still two steps behind GM, which has been advertising Chevrolet

As an "American Revolution" for years.

[alfredo]

7. Maybe they shouldn't sue their customers

http://www.adrants.com/2008/01/ford-slaps-brand-enthusiasts-returns.php

Ford Slaps Brand Enthusiasts, Returns Love With Legal Punch

While brands certainly don't want people using their products, logos and other related imagery to create products of their, own, the hammer that Ford legal dropped on the Black Mustang Club seems a bit heavy handed. Recently the club created a calendar which contained images of club members' cars photographed by the members themselves. Ford didn't take kindly to this and asked CafePress, the service the group had chosen to print the calendars, to kill the project claiming all the images in the calendar are the property of Ford...including the Black Mustang Club logo.

[Occulus]

23. Why does that smell as though it was inspired by the RIAA/MPAA suits? n/t

[alfredo]

25. It just another revenue stream.

[MessiahRp]

8. Just a few thoughts...

All the American car companies are way, way too many steps behind foreign companies as far as gas mileage and hybrid technologies go. They spend way too much time fighting over a bloated truck market and making gigantic gas guzzlers that most people are not interested in.

When Ford, Chrysler and GM start making affordable hybrids that get Toyota Prius mileage they'll see their sales go up.

Plus they should remember that American car buyers may seem unloyal to them now but they reap what they sow considering their loyalty to the American Auto Worker and their choices to outsource so many jobs to cheap labor.

My final thought is this: If Ford wants to sell vehicles they'd do well to fire that jackass Toby Keith as a spokesman. :)

Rp

[susanna]

24. Whoa, that's a huuuuuuge stretch.

The fact is, the domestic companies responded to what people were buying back in the 90s when gas was cheap. What were you and your friends buying? Hybrids? If you say yes, I call bullshit. The SUV craze sent several companies, and most assuredly the domestic Big Three, down the wrong path (even Kia JUST introduced an Explorer-sized behemoth at NAIAS). In other words, don't absolve your fellow consumers. THEY BOUGHT THOSE BEHEMOTHS. They ("the market") seduced the bean counters into the profits. And the fact that most non-industry people don't understand: It takes half a decade for a car to be conceptualized until it's built. You don't just wake up one day and have a small city car ready for the masses. It's insanely detailed, complicated, and regulated. The U.S. Big Three are reaching that moment where the concepts they've been working on for five years are finally hitting the streets. And not a moment too soon, I might add. I agree they're in trouble, but I still have faith.

I work in the auto industry and live in Detroit. I like to point out stuff that a lot of folks don't know: for example, Ford Motor Company has one of the most environmentally friendly auto assembly plants in the world (vegetative roof, recirculating water, natural light through skylights, etc.) and are looking at doing it to more assembly plants. They also have a hybrid that's been in production since 2004 (Escape). Their 2008 MKT concept car uses recycled materials for the seat covers AND the carpets. That isn't peanuts, in my mind. GM is also gearing up and offering hybrid versions of some of their largest SUVs. No one is asleep here. They're fighting back, but no one knows what they're doing. Consider me a reporter from the streets here in the Motor City, because the major media isn't telling you jack.

And all that said, as for Toby Keith, Ford should put a boot up his a$$. Just saying.

[riverdale]

30. Maybe you could tell me why there isn't a hybrid truck or minivan

I've been wanting one for years!

[MessiahRp]

50. Actually I had a Ford Escort

specifically because of the mileage I got from it. My Mom had a Geo Prism. When these were amongst the best mileage options we still took them even when gas was lower priced because even at low prices families that are struggling have to scrape to fill their tank every week.

So while it was less about the environment then, it was still all about the mileage.

Rp

[Javaman]

9. Wasn't there some sort of bullshit about ford about 2 years ago...

stating that they were going to "go in a new direction" and have some sort of major announcement, blah blah blah?

then nothing happened? or is this gas sucker it?

[Kokonoe]

13. I think that they just outsourced 25% of their workers back then

[notadmblnd]

10. too bad they dont think red, white and blue as far as jobs go

maybe then people could afford to buy their products?

[shain from kane]

11. Hey, Toby. Stick your boot in the ass of Ford Motor Co.

[hatrack]

12. Toby Keith?

They're trying to sell yet another gas-swilling big-ass truck by having Toby Fucking Keith pitch it?!?

Somebody pull the sheet up, OK?

[rAVES]

14. The more gas you guzzle the more patriotic you are.. hell a GWB bumper sticker too would look great!

[L0oniX]

16. Unless you need one for work, only a stupid red neck would buy one.

Having Toby Keith in the picture plays to those dumb ass red neck idiots. I see way too many pickup trucks with nothing in the back. I hope every one that buys one of these gas hogs pays dearly for it in more ways than just the price of gas.

[CRF450]

18. Many pickup owners I know use them for work.

But its also their only vehicle as they cant afford to buy another one like a gas sipping car.

Oh yeah, I see plenty of people other than rednecks who by trucks and dont use them for anything but just for daily driving.

[NoGOPZone]

17. Are Ford and Chrysler going to set an example by HIRING American?

Nah, I think the outsourcing will continue

[TlalocW]

19. These damn idiots

Ford especially deserves to have been surpassed by Toyota as the second largest seller of vehicles in the United States.

A basic premise of capitalism is that you build things that people either need or want - a premise they have either forgotten about or have chosen to ignore. In simple-minded republican-think, someone who's against capitalism is automatically a communist/socialist, but that label really doesn't apply to Ford. We really need a new definition for companies like Ford for situations like this.

TlalocW

[OhioChick]

20. I've Seen All of the US Car Makers

Touting this "Red, White and Blue" shit. Most of these vehicles aren't even made here, anymore. So, who are you supporting? Yes......The CEO's and Suits of these companies.

[GETPLANING]

21. I have two Fords, one made in Sweden, one made in England

Want to hear something even funnier? Tata Motors, of India, is buying Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford. First Great Britain colonized India. Now India is buying England.

[boricua79]

38. apparently the only way to be an American is to be

these guys:

"all-American cultural icons including country singer Toby Keith, professional bull rider Justin McBride and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Rick Crawford."

Why do they use labels like "All-American". Why not call it what they are... "all-white honky".

Not knocking country music (in the hands of real good performers, like Garth Brooks, it can be great), and when flipping channels I once in a while stop on rodeo shows (just to see if a bull throws one of the riders off his back), but really...All-American?

When I hear Nascar, bullriding, or Toby Keith, it calls up the images of the most ugliest, ignorant, "USA #1, USA#1" Americans I know.

When all else fails...appeal to Joe Sixpack's macho, "in your face" ugly americanist ideals.

Ugh...sickening.

[CRF450]

41. Mike Row?

They should have had him on that stage instead of Toby Dick.

[boricua79]

45. i'm sure you're right

I wouldn't know, since I don't keep up with Country music stars.

All I know is that some of them got carried away with the "and I am an American" theme...and I hate that theme. I hate the intolerance, one-track minded bent to it all. America, love it or leave it mentality.

The sad part is that THAT mentality serves to undermine the very America they're so intent in "saving". If the people who "complain" don't exist...and nobody points out America's problems...who is going to notice when America enters a hellhole...as it has these 8 years?

[CRF450]

49. Mike used be an opera singer, he didn't sing any country.

I'm sure you'v probably seen him on Dirty Jobs on Discovery Channel, he's a pretty funny guy. Aside from that, he did alot of truck commecials for Ford.

[boricua79]

52. oh, in that case, I'm not sure

I'm totally lost on the man you speak off.

[CRF450]

53. You should catch an episode of Dirty Jobs on Discovery Channel then.

When ever you can.

[saigon68]

48. TOBY DICK HAS A GREAT SONG

Toby Keith › Courtesy Of The Red, White & Blue

Justice will be served
And the battle will rage
This big dog will fight
When you rattle his cage
And youll be sorry that you messed with
The u.s. of a.
cause well put a boot in your ass
Its the american way

[fujiyama]

42. Really pathetic

You can paint these vehicles any color you want and dress it up with meaningless patriotic and jingoistic slogans...

But when gas prices are climbing and these behemoths average 15 or so miles/gallon their sales will inevitably fall. And Toby Keith sucks. Someone should drive an F-150 up his ass. BTW, instead of this pandering to nationalistic sentiments of buyers of a limited market, why not actually expand your buyers? I suppose they are trying with some designs, but it's very limited...and too little too late especially among many younger car buyers.

I work at a domestic automaker (started recently) and I find it amusing that a lot of people have bumper stickers that blame foreign automakers for losing their jobs. Funny, but my previous job was at a foreign automaker and they have plants all over the US.

[liberal1973]

43. HaHaHa

Having tobie keith as a so-called all-American who is anything but all-American is a joke. tobie keith is un-American as you can get. This is one of the thugs that treated the Dixie Chicks wrong.

Clearly Ford choose to be a crappy company. Henry Ford was pro-nazi before and during WW2. How ironic?

[happyslug]

47. Is this to push Pick-ups or SUVs? There is a difference is WHO buys them.

Several years ago I read an article about mini-vans and SUV drivers and how they both used the same word, but it meant different things to each group. The word I forget (Look at the advertising, it might still be in use) but WHAT the word meant to both groups was dramatically different. In SUV drivers it was the ability to take care of themselves and their families to show they could take care of others i.e. their themselves and their families. Mini-truck drivers used the same words, but meant things like how can I help my neighbors. Can I provide a ride to all the members of my child's ball team to practice?

Notice the difference, mini-can drivers were more community related, while SUV drivers were more concerned about their status in the Community. The funny part was Pickup drivers were more like Mini-vans drivers then SUV drivers.

Thus is this for Pickup drivers or SUV Drivers? The car makers like using the Term "Pick-up" better then the term SUV, given the bad press SUVs have had over the last few years (Mostly on bad gas economy, but also Ford's Explorer problem with its tires and other problems). Thus are the makers concern about Pickups or SUVs. Merely using the term Pickup is not enough, for many SUV use Pickups as their base. In fact the various things mention sound better on a SUV in which one's family is being driven than a pickup hauling trash or other items to the dump. Thus show the Pick-up, people see the pickup and think "I can get that in my new SUV".

Anyway, the the big drop has been in SUVs, pickups seem to have held their own. Many families that has a pickup has a smaller second car (Generally for the wife and kids). The pickup is for the husband, with no room for BOTH the wife and kids. SUVs, on the other hand, are substitute cars. i.e. for the driver more than two other riders. Many families with Pickup keep them for YEARS, with bodies now lasting (Since the 1980s) ten years or more, most people are keeping their Pickups for that length of time, buying a small second car instead of a new Pickup when it comes time to buy a car.

Personally I see many of the people who are buying a Pickup now, opting for a car the next time they are in the market. A mid-size car, but something big enough to haul a trailer around if needed. Trailers are cheap and if you have the engine easy to haul (Backing up is more difficult then with a pickup, but that is part of give and take). As the price of Gasoline goes up I expect to see a lot more trailers (Mostly replacing pickups so people can move if they have to).

Remember traditional Pick-ups are a working class vehicle, SUVs are more upper middle class vehicle. Working class move themselves with the help of their friends, the Upper Middle Class don't move and when they do hire someone to do it for them. Just some comments about Pick-ups and the fact that while Pick-ups are the subject of the article, the item being pushed (But not shown even at the Auto show) are SUVs.