Toyota unveiled its next generation 2016 Tacoma on Monday (January 12) at the Detroit Auto Show, hoping to take market share away from U.S. automakers in the high-growth mid-sized market.
Nissan touted its redesigned Titan pickup thinking that its brawny Cummins V8 diesel rated at 310 horsepower will woo consumers.
Toyota’s Senior Vice President of Sales Bob Carter said he is looking forward to the competition that GM (and Ford) bring to the market.
“It’s our opinion that with Canyon and Colorado that’s going to regenerate the, rejuvenate that market. With this new truck, we’re actually confident that we’ll sell more Takoma’s in 2016 than we do in 2014 and 15 with the current truck. It’s a fantastic vehicle,” Carter said.
Pickups drive profits accounting for 90 percent and more of global pre-tax margins among all the Detroit three, GM, Ford and Chrysler according to analysts.
In 2014, the popular pickup segment drove much of the growth in all U.S. vehicle sales. Three of the four top-selling models were full-size trucks: Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 1500.
But AutoNation’s CEO Mike Jackson said he doesn’t think Nissan and Toyota’s redesigned trucks will threaten U.S. automakers.
“They are very nice vehicles but I think it’ll be more a ding than a dent,” Jackson said.
“Detroit builds phenomenal trucks. This is a home turf product. They’ve been doing it for decades and the new F150 is sensational and the Colorado is terrific. So the Asians will have their place, but they’re not turning the marketplace upside down by any means.”
Cheap gas is rekindling American consumers’ love affair with big trucks, and automakers are eagerly expanding their truck lineups to squeeze more money out of one of the most profitable segments anywhere in the global auto industry.
While large vehicles are getting larger, some of the same automakers are also unveiling small alternative fuel engine vehicles that are smaller environmental polluters.
Apart from its award winning Colorado pickup, General Motors Chevrolet also pulled the wraps off a tiny, environmentally friendly electric car called the Bolt.
Chevy’s GMO Tim Mahoney said that automakers have to diversify their portfolio in this type of market.
“I don’t think anyone could have imagined gasoline or fuel prices at $50 a barrel right? It’s hard to imagine. So in this environment you have to be prepared with a portfolio that can handle all scenarios. That’s why we’re launching here today vehicles like the new Volt and showing a vehicle like the Bolt concept and at the same time we have great strength with our truck heritage and we’re completing this kind of three truck strategy with Colorado,Silverado and Silverado Heavy Duty. So we’ve kind of got it covered.”
Acura introduced its hotly anticipated NSX hybrid, which aims to deliver a sporty experience with an environmental take.
But AutoNation’s Mike Jackson said that the question of which technology will surpass the internal combustion engine has yet to be answered He is however paying close attention to Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell powered Mirai.
“When you have a manufacturer like Toyota that says the inherent weight and cost of the batteries will never be overcome and we think hydrogen fuel cell is the ultimate answer, well you gotta listen very carefully to that because god knows they did it with the Prius in creating a new segment. So I think that’s the interesting debate.”
The four-seater sedan, named Mirai, the Japanese word for “future”, is Toyota’s first mass-market fuel cell vehicle that runs on hydrogen instead of gasoline. It will go on sale in the United States and Europe in the fourth quarter of 2015.
The ultimate “green car”, fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) run on electricity made by mixing hydrogen fuel and oxygen in the air – a technology first used in theApollo moon project in the 1960s. Its only by-product is heat and water – water so pure the Apollo astronauts drank it.
And Toyota’s Bob Carter says he’s pretty confident that this may just be the car of the future.
“The first 100 years of the automobile was driven by oil, after the initial development I believe the second 100 years may be driven by hydrogen.”
Reuters