NY Times Reports More Luxury Buyers Switching to Trucks
By Brian Dally

We love Lexus, but if your next luxury vehicle is a pickup, the New York Times says you're not alone as more luxury buyers opt for trucks.

 

To a large extent, I have to disagree. This is not a masculine/feminine issue....that's an inaccurate stereotype painted by the automotive press and so-called "enthusiasts". Though I myself don't happen to be among them (I happen to like FWD luxury and entry-level luxury sedans), most people today are choosing crossovers, SUVs, and trucks for practical reasons, not image, or even a need to keep up with the Jones's any more. More and more people, nowadays, simply want the ground clearance, AWD/4WD traction, high driving/seating stance, space efficiency, room for cargo, and, in some cases. towing capacity that these vehicles bring. If you're shopping at a department store or yard sale, for instance, and you see a nice living room chair, love seat, dining room table, etc..... that you want to buy while it's still available, and don't want to wait or fool around with company-delivery, you probably aren't going to be able to take it home in most sedans.

 

$70k raptor will get you a lot more attention and fun than a $70k Benz/BMW/Audi. And its more practical. Non luxury cars have features you used to have to get a luxury car for, not anymore.

 

How can it be practical when most of the time when I see someone in a SUV/CUV, it's usually the driver and noone else in the car??? It's wasted space and fuel economy as well as SUV/CUVs burn more gas. If you need more space, e.g. moving stuff, get a truck rental.

 

Some people, even singles, buy CUVs simply for the headroom. One of my single colleagues, for example, who is 6' 4", drives an older RAV-4, with a tall roofline, because he can't properly fit into a Corolla or many other smaller, affordable sedans because of the limited headroom and legroom.

 

It's not just rich men, it's also rich women who are buying SUVs and trucks instead of luxury sedans. It's about the ride height and a commanding view of the road, feeling like you're above everyone else.

The North American market is different - instead of buying SUVs, people are buying huge trucks like the F-150, vehicles that are too big for most European and Asian roads. In other parts of the world, small pickups like the Hilux and Ranger are already considered as large vehicles. I've seen F-150s and Tundras on Chinese roads dwarfing everything else and making LWB S-classes look small.

 

The guy with the 70k raptor is not using that truck for work, it is a pavement princess. I live in the country there are a bunch of people that just buy and suv or truck just to have one (overcompensateing). You get way more head turns in a $70,000 luxery car then a you do in a bro truck lol

 

I for one dislike trucks and most people who drive them.

I plan on driving sporty luxury sedans/coupes/'verts forever.

 

Yup it's just a pavement princess used to bully others on the road.

For most of these guys, their truck is the only semblance of power they have in their life.

 

Yeah a full size 6,000+lb pickup truck is REALLY practical for daily driving hahahaha. What a joke man. What a freaking joke!

 

Features yes, but luxury no. Even the most expensive trucks still have hard plastic everywhere and shared parts bin components with the most bottom barrel work trucks. I've never understood the notion that these trucks are "luxurious." I suppose people just have low standards for luxury. Leather seats and features = luxury for these people.

 

This article is misleading, it should read more luxury buyers are switching to SUVs, but since SUVs are classified as light trucks someone decided the make a sensationalist headline.

 

disliking trucks is one thing, but disliking most people who drive them... is that because you've met most or all of them, or you just automatically dislike them because they drive a truck?

 

True story bro I deal with it on a daily basis, they are a$$hole$, but then there is people like my father in law who goes hunting, fishing, camping, and is an avid outdoorsman, and actually uses his truck for intended purpose. It is a 70/30 thing with trucks.

 

Perhaps, your tall colleague should think about getting a large/full size sedan rather than a subcompact/compact sedan, e.g. Corolla. On a side/related note, I don't get it with large/tall people sitting in small/compact cars and complaining about not a lot of space. Duh, small cars are for small people and large cars are for large people. It's not rocket science, Einstein.