THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996 TAG: 9602100279
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
When Henry Ford set up factories to mass-produce cars, he wanted to build vehicles ``at a price within the reach of many.'' Now, some are criticizing the company Ford founded for adding so many features to the redesigned F-150 pickup that it's priced more like a posh sports utility than a work truck.
``Too fancy for its own good,'' a 1993 F-150 owner said of the new model at the Detroit auto show.
``Ford lost touch with middle America,'' a Spokane, Wash., Ford dealer told The New York Times.
Ouch.
When it comes to the $25,000 pickup, there's more than meets the eye - and the manufacturer's suggested retail price.
``Trucks'' aren't just trucks anymore. They're as likely to be seen cruising suburban highways as rambling down a narrow farm lane kicking up dust.
Even the definition has changed.
A truck, as defined in the automobile industry, comes in many forms: the minivan that Chrysler popularized, and sport-utility vehicles such as the Jeep Cherokee and the Ford Explorer, as well as the traditional pickup.
The F-series, auto analysts say, is getting up to speed with and even jumping ahead of other, more posh ``trucks.''
``Ford is actually building a very, very rich mix,'' says Maryann Keller, an auto stock analyst with Furman Selz in New York. ``Carpets on the floor, premium upholstery, the chrome bumper.
``The strange thing is, we've got a completely separate market between cars and trucks,'' she added. ``You can't give cars away at any price, and people want trucks at almost any price.''
Chrysler, for example, now has a version of its Town and Country minivan that sells for $35,000, Keller pointed out.
George Hoffer, an economics professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who charts trends in the auto industry, said Ford has correctly decided that the U.S. vehicle market won't see much growth in the future.
``To enhance revenue, they're going to do it not by selling more cars, but by selling more car to a person,'' Hoffer said.
In every new model introduced since the 1989 Thunderbird, Ford has made more options standard items, trying to add value to be able to raise the price, Hoffer said. In all but one significant case - the Ford Explorer, a truck - the strategy has been less than successful.
The feature-laden F-150 may soon parallel the fate of the redesigned Ford Taurus, auto industry watchers have suggested. Ford decided earlier this week to build a lower priced Taurus G model because sales of the new Taurus have been sluggish.
So far, only two of Ford's factories - here in Norfolk and in Kansas City - are churning out 1997 F-series pickups. So a person who doesn't like the sleeker design - or the added features and price - of the new version will still be able to buy the 1996 model.
And the 1997 F-150 - which went on sale at the end of last month - is still available in a less expensive version. A person can buy a 1997, two-wheel drive with manual transmission for $15,045, a $280 increase over the same 1996 model.
Even so, some standard features were added to the new version: dual air bags, a locking tailgate, 16-inch wheels (rather than 15-inch) and a split-back front bench seat.
But that's not how people want their trucks these days.
``I can still order a base work truck for '97, and it's still very close in price to the '96, but people are asking for more,'' said Bill Law Sr., of Freedom Ford in Norfolk.
At Greenbrier Oldsmobile, GMC, Volkswagen in Chesapeake, sales manager Hugh Casey said trucks are so popular that the competition for buyers - at least right now - comes in the form of features rather than on the pricing front.
``We don't really seem to go head-to-head on pricing,'' Casey said. ``You have people who don't need a truck who are buying it for the image, then you have people who are buying it because they need it.''
With the 1997 F-150 having gone on sale only about two weeks ago, it's too early to judge how it's doing. In January, Ford sold 50,900 F-series pickups, its best January since 1979, the last time Ford redesigned the country's most popular car or truck. Ford sold 6,973 new F-150s in January, but that total was achieved in only five selling days.
Freedom Ford has had a tough time keeping the trucks on its lot, and Ford reports it has more than 100,000 orders for the new model.
Philip Novell, general sales manager for the Ford Division of Ford Motor Co., said the criticism that Ford lost touch with the masses is unwarranted.
``When you're in the position of selling 700,000 of a type of vehicle,'' he said, ``you're not a boutique player.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color illustration by Robert Voros
Truck Costs
Ford's new line of F-150 trucks will cost* a little more than 1996
models.
[compares cost of different styles of trucks]
[For copy of text, see microfilm.]
KEYWORDS: FORD COMPANY TRUCK by CNB