There are only a couple million farmers in the United States, and yet the top 5 manufacturers of pickups sell a couple million trucks every year, and the F-Series is nearly a million of those sales. I guarantee farmers are not buying a new pickup every year! (And yes, in my part of Texas a lot of people just say "pickup" instead of "pickup truck"). I'm a city dweller and there are plenty of pickups around, but I can tell you know tons of Texans in both cities and smaller towns who wouldn't even consider buying anything other than a pickup for their daily driver (and no, they're not farmers).
A lot of people around the country don't realize that lots of commercials are tailored for Texas. A big part of those are pickup commercials, saying they're built "Texas tough" or whatever.
That sounds completely crazy from european POV. I've seen probably less than 50 pickup trucks in my life. How do you drive that thing in a city? Where do you park it?
We used to have this mentality back home: Normal cars- only German made , if you can't afford normal car- buy Japanese,as a second best option,which really is the worst option. And the rest of the brands? Nobody really buys them unless they are crazy.
I'm not sure why that's the case.I'm having hard time imagining that most buyers really use it as a truck: transport tools, equipment,and so on. They probably don't look so bad on American roads,as they are much wider, however every time I see one in Europe, it's almost 100% that some brash jackass is behind the wheel. Even those who buy them for work tend to follow the rule.
A lot of folks. Anyone who is in construction and has to work on a house being built usually relies on a gas powered generator or shares plugs with the rest of the trades off the post in the yard. It's why cordless tools became popular, but unlike corded tools they sometimes lack the power required for the job.
Can you imagine having this vehicle in an emergency where there is no power. It could power a refrigerator or a small space heater if necessary. It could help out camping for sure.
Pickup trucks are no longer just work or farmer trucks. They are as luxurious as a high end Lexus with just as much room or more. My brother has an F150 and it is just as comfortable as my wife's Lexus ES350 with a better view out the windshield. The gas mileage is pretty good these days also.
I daily drive a Tesla, but my wife daily drives our F150. It's a great do-everything truck. Hauls the kids and sometimes their friends. Fits their bikes in the back. Hauls bark dust, gravel, big things, etc, whenver we need. Tows our travel trailer a couple times a month. And it does all of this very comfortably.
It's really a great all around vehicle for a lot of families.
Most people who drive pickups don't actually need them. Financially they'd be better off renting one on the rare occasion they actually use the bed or towing capacity.
People self-employed like appliance repairmen, plumbers, fishermen, farmers, carpenters, roofers, grass cutting, snow removal.
Here in Canada it's a great vehicle due to snow and rugged terrain. Even in small towns snow is on the ground 25% of the year but in some places nearly half the year.
I don't care if the truck is gas or diesel as long as it moves. But electric would be preferable for efficiency as long as it can haul a trailer or carry a load.
There are lots of self employed people that own nice trucks, but the primary sales target of the F150 is a wealthy office worker who lives in the suburbs. By far their biggest customer base is people who like the aesthetics of the truck but do not need a truck, and do not use the features of the truck beyond its size.
If you drive through suburbia, you'll probably find one in every other driveway. Very few of them are being used regularly for anything that requires a truck.
Having one truck for an extended family to share is really convenient. (EDIT: E.g. one truck per 4-6 households.)
And let's face it -- cars in general are completely unused at least 95% of the time (EDIT: probably an exaggeration). And you could just as easily say that most of the seats in a car go unused most of the time, even when in use.
So it's really about the gas milage rather than the fact that it has an open bed. Sports cars and SUVs fall into the same category. It's just that a bunch of empty truck beds on the road are more visible than empty seats or over-powered engines.
Is there a good explanation why pick up trucks are so popular in the US, but no in Europe? Coming from Europe I've always wondered this and only ever have gotten reasons that would be valid in Europe as well. Uses cases of farmers and construction workers should be largely identical. Yet in Europe these get covered by tractors and vans. For farmers I wonder if the larger areas in the US make the difference.
As I just alluded to in another comment, a lot of it is marketing of a macho image, e.g. commercials in Texas are customized to tell guys how the pickup being marketed is tough enough for Texans. So plenty of people I've known buy them because they associate them as being the most appropriate thing for a man to drive, whether they ever use the truck bed or not.
It's cultural, mostly. There are technical or economical reasons both current and historic (Truck Tax, Size of roads, cost of gas...), but mostly I think it's just cultural.
A similar cultural thing made wagons not cool in the US 30 years ago, and they didn't come back (Which is a shame).
I don't know exactly who or why, but the answer is certainly A LOT of people are buying them.
"Cox Automotive data shows Middle America, with household incomes of $50,000 to $99,000, was the segment of buyers who stayed in-market mostly for new pickup trucks and SUVs, while upper- and lower-income buyers shied away,"
Or you know, to do the regular and never ending series of tasks result from owning a home, and which can only be completed (or far more conveniently so) by use of a truck.
In 2019 I spent 1400$ on deliveries and truck rentals. If you own a property, not having to set a 60$ delivery on a 30$ load of bark becomes a major convenience.
I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. If you've lived anywhere in the states where pick-ups are very common, it's pretty obvious that few people actually need a pick-up truck very often. It's definitely a status/lifestyle thing for many.
stephenhuey|5 years ago
A lot of people around the country don't realize that lots of commercials are tailored for Texas. A big part of those are pickup commercials, saying they're built "Texas tough" or whatever.
ajuc|5 years ago
cosmodisk|5 years ago
teej|5 years ago
cosmodisk|5 years ago
hourislate|5 years ago
Can you imagine having this vehicle in an emergency where there is no power. It could power a refrigerator or a small space heater if necessary. It could help out camping for sure.
Pickup trucks are no longer just work or farmer trucks. They are as luxurious as a high end Lexus with just as much room or more. My brother has an F150 and it is just as comfortable as my wife's Lexus ES350 with a better view out the windshield. The gas mileage is pretty good these days also.
rootusrootus|5 years ago
I daily drive a Tesla, but my wife daily drives our F150. It's a great do-everything truck. Hauls the kids and sometimes their friends. Fits their bikes in the back. Hauls bark dust, gravel, big things, etc, whenver we need. Tows our travel trailer a couple times a month. And it does all of this very comfortably.
It's really a great all around vehicle for a lot of families.
driverdan|5 years ago
dghughes|5 years ago
Here in Canada it's a great vehicle due to snow and rugged terrain. Even in small towns snow is on the ground 25% of the year but in some places nearly half the year.
I don't care if the truck is gas or diesel as long as it moves. But electric would be preferable for efficiency as long as it can haul a trailer or carry a load.
tmh79|5 years ago
ceejayoz|5 years ago
jeffdavis|5 years ago
And let's face it -- cars in general are completely unused at least 95% of the time (EDIT: probably an exaggeration). And you could just as easily say that most of the seats in a car go unused most of the time, even when in use.
So it's really about the gas milage rather than the fact that it has an open bed. Sports cars and SUVs fall into the same category. It's just that a bunch of empty truck beds on the road are more visible than empty seats or over-powered engines.
ajmurmann|5 years ago
stephenhuey|5 years ago
rootusrootus|5 years ago
Because they are the most versatile vehicle on the road, if you are not constrained artificially by narrow roads and heavily taxed fuel.
alkonaut|5 years ago
A similar cultural thing made wagons not cool in the US 30 years ago, and they didn't come back (Which is a shame).
beervirus|5 years ago
ceejayoz|5 years ago
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-make-a-tax-saving-d...
TulliusCicero|5 years ago
tonyedgecombe|5 years ago
centimeter|5 years ago
The options for me are a big SUV or a pickup truck. Right now it’s an SUV, but an F150 is looking pretty attractive.
wmeredith|5 years ago
mdszy|5 years ago
blakesterz|5 years ago
"Cox Automotive data shows Middle America, with household incomes of $50,000 to $99,000, was the segment of buyers who stayed in-market mostly for new pickup trucks and SUVs, while upper- and lower-income buyers shied away,"
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a32380257/first-month-ever...
For the First Month Ever, More People Bought Pickups Than Cars (That was May of this month)
JKCalhoun|5 years ago
Perhaps a couple bags of grass fertilizer.
Perhaps hauling the kids stuff to/from college.
That's about it. The rest of the time they struggle to park them in strip mall parking lots.
RosanaAnaDana|5 years ago
In 2019 I spent 1400$ on deliveries and truck rentals. If you own a property, not having to set a 60$ delivery on a 30$ load of bark becomes a major convenience.
TulliusCicero|5 years ago