As a lover of many sports, I’m a loyal fan of the Detroit Red Wings, Michigan State Spartans, and Olympiacos. Tragically, the Wings are out of the chase for the 2012 Stanley Cup, MSU didn’t go to the 2011 Rose Bowl, and Olympiacos got bounced out of the UEFA Champions League tournament pretty quickly. At the same time, I’m not about to wave a Chicago Blackhawks flag, throw on a University of Michigan shirt, or paint my face Panathinaikos green. That would be fickle and spineless. My devotion for these teams has been set, and I’ll never bring myself to suddenly defect. Especially to a rival organization.
As any fan will vouch for, sports trigger a lot of passion. People passionately fight over disputes with rival team fans at bars, parties, work, wherever. But such a thing isn’t exclusive to sports. The same vehement nature can be found in the automotive world. To set you on the same wavelength, look at the fanbase between the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang. Both muscle cars are celebrated by a beloved enthusiast following, of which hold a deep scorn towards their cross-town adversaries. Visit the comment section of any online video, any news article or any social media post regarding the cars, and you will find both blind praise from the loyalists, and bitter words from smack-talking trolls representing the other side. Another segment where such behavior is exhibited is the pickup truck market.
The Ford F-Series being the best selling pickup truck for over thirty years running is no accident. It’s a great line of trucks and always has been. This kind of success has much to do with rock solid brand loyalty that’s been passed on from generations. It’s not uncommon for a Ford truck man to hook his son or daughter onto Ford trucks, keeping the line going. The same goes for Chevy people. Except there seems to be a lot more Ford favoritism, not unlike University of Michigan fans to Michigan State fans (but it’s the MSU fans that you wanna party with). And the most rigid segment of the truck market has to be the heavy duty sector. Powerstroke versus Duramax versus Cummins.
Sure, you can probably get an F-150 buyer to look at a Chevy Silverado or GMC Sierra 1500. But to get a seasoned Powerstroke buyer to buy a Duramax? It would probably be easier to convert a Muslim into a Jew. It’s possible, but the conversion rate makes the effort hardly worth it. Because for these people, it doesn’t matter if a Silverado 3500 can pull the moon from orbit if they’ve been Ford loyalists their whole life. They’re set in their ways. So rather than GM exhausting its efforts into this trap, it would be better to focus on younger opportunities.
Just as Chevrolet continues to turn its eye on the Millennial market with small cars like the Sonic and Spark, the marketing team should focus their efforts on attracting younger truck buyers that are virgin to the HD market. And unless it’s somebody who’s from a family tradition of Ford or GM, these buyers carry a more neutral loyalty, which if the folks at GM cared to gain more market share in the HD segment (and why the hell wouldn’t they?) should make a more focused effort towards winching up and pulling in this niche audience. The Ford/GM market imbalance won’t level out overnight, but it’s a change that can happen over time. And it’s not like GM has nothing to tout. Far from, as Pickuptrucks.com crowned the Silverado HD as king of the hill after it spanked the Ford Super Duty in the Heavy Duty Hurt Locker comparison test. GM also has their HD to HD videos that can be found on YouTube which show viewers that the Silverado HD is currently the best choice when it comes to no-frills truck performance. GM has the ammo for a powerful HD truck marketing campaign, but it seems the gun isn’t big enough for the bullets.
Comments
GM needs to make a breakthrough with their trucks, kinda like Ford did back in 99 when they came out with SD. A lot of guys think GM is not serious enough with its truck division.
So what to young guys want in a truck?
Besides a capable and powerful truck, guys want their truck to look good (tough). Guys like to lift their trucks and do upgrades, that means that the truck should be upgrade friendly (it’s a lot easier and cheaper to do that with Ram or Ford). Another crucial aspect is high trim options, GM needs to answer to king Ranch, platinum, Harley Davidson, and Raptor, until then, guys with still think that GM is not serious with their trucks!
It may also help to not have the most bland interior too…
totally with you on this one gm needs to vamp up their truck sector. the denali is a good shot at the platinum. the ltz is a shot at the lariat and laramie. but gm needs a trim level to go after the king ranch and long horn trims of ford and ram. also i love the looks of the current hd pick-ups. i’ve been a chev fan all my life thanks to my dad. but that doesn’t mean i’m fully against everyone else i’ll concide that the dakota is better than it’s rivals and the ford gt is one of my favourite cars. ’30s fords are gorgeous as well. but i’ll own a chevy.
I think they need to get serious with engineering and designing, no doubt. But one thing they need to do is get a good advertising campaign. Right now, I’ve seen Ford, Ram, and even Toyota ad campaigns for trucks that show how rugged and capable they are. GMC commercials focus only on fuel efficiency and proffessional feel, and the Chevrolet commercials treat the Silverado like just another automobile they sell. A full-on ad campaogn like the “Like a Rock” and “This is our Truck” shows the historic dependinility of Chevy trucks. Follow that up with a brand new campaign and the young guys will get fired up.
Greetings from Chicago, DETROIT SUCKS!
Chevrolet (and by default GMC) has become complacent with their trucks. They are sure of their sales so they think they don’t need to make the design better, or they don’t need to offer rear discs brakes as standard (The truck will stop either way, right? The buyers who want a base model truck will understand, right? They won’t notice that Ford and Ram are offering discs, right?). All they need to sell 300,000+ trucks is to slap a Bow-Tie on the grille and voila! Instant cash! Well…if I see another square fender above a round tyre, and if I see another drum behind a rear wheel I will scream. They need to cut that crap out. Seriously. 70s are over, pal!
All Checy PU is a cornflake box on wheels. Ford had designed a truck that looks so much better with all kinds of flavors from Fx to Harley Davidson. Add the Ecoboost and it becomes easy to see why ads for cornflakes aren’t as exciting as ads for Ford trucks which come in more than one flavor
Working at a truck only GM store I agree with some of the comments and disagree with others. Styling wise, though it is dated, the styling of GM Trucks is far better than the outdated Ram “big rig” look. The Ford designers need to go back to school. Anyone can draw a flat square front end. All that chrome looks bad. It is pure ugly, as ugly as a Jute.. Ford interiors are not bad but still the flat look. Looks plane jane. GM needs to change the cloth fabric, it is the worst we have had in 30 some years. The door panels on the SLE/LT need a redesign. I would love to see GM bring back two tone paint schemes. But “it isnt cost effective” so says the bean counters. On the powertrain issue. I think they should address the fuel economy rating of the “ecoboost V6” isnt much different than the 5.3. The Active Fuel Management needs to be reprogramed to go into the V4 configuration sooner and stay in longer than it currently is. Lastly GM needs to change the steel they use in making rear leaf springs, or should I say find a different supplier. This applies to all GM trucks/vans. The two tier system works great, just use better steel in the lower springs.
All in all GM trucks are great trucks. Ask a person who has test driven a competitor and then our truck. They all say it rides better and when you show them the new tow ratings they understand it is a workhorse.. .
No trolls please! No Chevy trucks are not cornflake boxes, in fact there are more capable, more reliable, more powerful then Fords. Ford just makes it look good especially on paper.
As a guy who has owned 11 trucks in the past 15 years, 9 have been a GM truck. I purchased one Dodge Cummins and the motor was great but the rest of the truck was junk after a year of fairly heavy use. I owned one Superduty which was during the 6.0 era so that was a mistake. When it came time to purchase my 2012 I drove all three. I will say that the Dodge and Ford offered nicer interiors but since I was coming from an 08 Chevrolet I was still more comfortable in the GM truck. Beyond the interior the GM truck with the Duramax/Ally Combo could not be beat. I guess I make my truck look different then everyone else but I dont lift it because I use it for what it was intended and thats to haul and work so its not important to me for it to have alot of aftermarket. I usually keep a truck about 2 years and I drive them at a rate of about 100k per year. The only problems I have had with the last two Duramax trucks were emissions related. My new 2012 GMC has been flawless and it is by far the best GM truck I have ever owned. Even my buddies who drive hopped up Dodges and Fords are impressed and one recently came over to our side.
All of that said I think GM does need to step up their efforts to convert more over. In my humble opinion they have the best truck out tell people about it! I personally can’t wait to see what the future holds for these trucks.
They should make the kodiak again to compete with the f650 and stuff
Sean I’m with you, I also drove all three and with heavy loads (over 30k combined) and I have to say that Duramax beats others hands down, Cummins is great but it does run out of breath in the mountains.
I just hope GM with step up and offer more options and great looks with its trucks.
Hey Lex I Ain’t no troll. Bought my first Chevy in 1987,
The new trucks will cover everyones concerns about the current product and will have class leading fuel economy, diesel performance, ride, comfort and above all to some is the looks will be fantastic, I you will get to see more and more spy shots of the trucks which will reveal alot about the new trucks. We are working hard on the new trucks and I hope you all like our efforts. more to follow, you may also like the new drivetrains that will be offered, they will be the most modern in the industry with performance to match. Small blocks live on, but will get the modern upgrades that they need.
GM needs to get serious about commercial trucks. That is where a lot of Ford’s numbers come from.
2011 ford sale only have what 6 000 more..the real numbers need to be show by ford gm and dodge,f series is everything 150,250,350,450,550,,gm sold more half ton pickup if ford use the f serie wy gm dont do the same ….gm sold xnumbers of truck,the real puller use the gm dmax,and the on need a nice dash dont care if he have problem to pull they use a ford is simple what do you like a puller or get pull..do you want a real truck or something just have thelook tuff..
easy,,,, people thing they drive a big rig whit a ford……gm need to challenge ford with advertising…you believe in you product show it …..apple whit apple challenge the ford customer….looking big not always look tough..or stronger same whit the bodybuilder..