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More Consumers Sticking With SUVs, Trucks

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

October 19, 2006

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Lower gasoline prices are convincing a growing number of SUV and truck owners to stick with their truck brand when they trade in their vehicles, at least for now.

According to a new study, retention rates for the large pickup, large SUV and mid-sized SUV segments were up from August to early October when compared with the prior seven weeks.

The Power Information Network, a division of J.D. Power and Associates conducted the study.

The news can't come too soon for U.S. automakers, which have struggled through the year as high gasoline prices have pushed consumers toward fuel-efficient vehicles and away from the lucrative truck segment.

Retention was measured by the percentage of owners in a vehicle category who traded for another vehicle in the same category. The J.D. Power data only includes retail sales through dealers, not fleet sales.

The 12-week-long decline in gasoline prices seems to be the major factor for the increase in owner loyalty rates for pickups and SUVS.

In the large pickup segment, 68.9 percent of those owners trading in their vehicles traded for another in the same segment, up from 65.2 percent in the prior seven weeks, according to the study.

In the large SUV segment, 39.6 percent of those trading, traded in the same segment compared with 37.2 percent in the prior period.

In the mid-sized SUV category, 27 percent of those owners traded in for a vehicle in the same segment, up from 23.5 percent in the earlier period.

Trucks and SUVs represent 60 percent of U.S. sales at General Motors and 62 percent at Ford Motor Co. At DaimlerChrysler, that number is an industry-high 75 percent.

GM plans new GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks later this year to compete with Ford's F-series pickup and the upcoming redesigned Tundra pickup from Toyota.

Ford also plans a redesigned version of its flagship F-150 pickup in 2008.

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