All Entries in the "Auto News" Category
Numbers Show Tundra Is Poised to Eclipse GMC Sierra, Possibly Overtake Ram 1500
Over the last few weeks, PickupTrucks.com has published both 2012 half-ton retail sales figures and 2012 total half-ton sales, which gives us the data we need to talk about “fleet mix,” or the percentage of trucks that Ford, GM, Ram-Fiat, Toyota, and Nissan sell to fleets.
- F-150 sales – 19.1% fleet
- Sierra 1500/Silverado 1500 sales – 11.5% fleet
- Ram 1500 – 12.3% fleet
- Tundra – 4.2% fleet
- Titan – 16.5% fleet
These numbers show that Ford is the king of fleet sales, and that Toyota doesn’t depend on fleet transactions nearly as much as the rest of the truck manufacturers listed.
Why does this matter? Because fleet sales should never be compared to retail sales, as a fleet buyer has very little in common with a retail buyer (more on that below). Yet despite this inequality between a fleet buyer and a retail buyer, Ford, GM, and Ram-Fiat are never shy about quoting total sales numbers (which include fleet) and then using these numbers to brag about their “increased share.”
Specifically, if we look at retail numbers only, Toyota’s share of the retail half-ton truck market is about 9.5%, and that number is only going to grow as the 2014 model hits the street.
3-D Printed Urbee Car – Future of Automotive?
The buzz lately in the tech world is about 3-D printing. And now, an automotive engineer has developed an automobile using this printing technology. From car parts to entire cars, is the future of automotive in a printer?
Engineer Jim Kor inside his design for the Urbee 2 – very efficient.
Photo from Wired.com and Sara Payne.
Chrysler Workers Deliberately Sabotage Ram Production – Quality Issues?
In what could be the most surprising news of the year, it seems Chrysler-Fiat employees are deliberately sabotaging production on the 2013 Ram 1500 pickup over “poor morale.”
Warren Truck Assembly workers have reportedly sabotaged the 2013 Ram 1500 production to spite management over shift schedule changes.
2013 Best Full Size Truck for the Money – Toyota Tundra
The 2013 Toyota Tundra has won the “2013 Best Full Size Truck for the Money” award from U.S. News and Word Report. The award is given to the top vehicle in their segment for “outstanding value and critical acclaim.”
The Toyota Tundra has been named the “2013 Best Full Size Truck for the Money” by U.S. News and World Report.
Toyota Wins 100th NASCAR Truck Series Race – 7 Straight at Daytona
On Friday, February 22, 2013, Toyota, as a manufacturer, won its 100th NASCAR Truck Series Race. The win by Johnny Sauter was also the 7th win in a row at Daytona. Not bad for Toyota which started racing trucks in 2004.
This Toyota driven by Johnny Sauter wins the NASCAR Truck Series Daytona 250. The win is the 100th for Toyota and is 7 in a row at Daytona.
