Should VW build an F-150 Fighter?

"Bullitt417" (Bullitt417) 12/27/2013 at 14:02 • Filed to: None

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This is the follow-up to my earlier post asking the Jalopnik community to give me a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . While I had a lot of great suggestions, this question posed by Hermann- Fantasy WRC Champion, appealed the most to me. I think it is a great discussion piece simply because it is a different take on the Amarak discussion.

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Within 5 minutes of starting of any pick-up truck conversation on the internet, someone always rips off their clothes and starts screaming "Bring us the Volkswagen Amarak!!!!" while simultaneously running in circles like a mad man. Listen to enough of these conversations and you begin to think that if VW brought the Amarak over, they would meet their world domination sales goals with a single model. Yet it is still not here for reasons that have been discussed in terabytes of articles. To recap in a twitter sized quote, here is why we can't have the Amarak:

Chicken Tax, Small Midsize Market, Too Big, Too Much Money #screwyouchickentax

So for now the Amarak doesn't make sense for VW America; but what about a full-size truck instead? Let's face it: full size trucks are America, with the big three's trucks ranking in the top ten annual sales for decades. With such ambitious sales goals for America, should VW try to take a bite of this market?

The answer I am afraid, is a resounding NO. Before I explain why, let's look at what a VW truck would need to succeed in the F-150, Silverado, Ram 1500 playground.

Big Numbers- HP, Torque, Payload, Towing, Fuel Economy. Truck guys love their numbers and bigger is always better. It doesn't matter that none of it is standardized yet, bragging rights are bragging rights.

Lots of Choices- According to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a 2013 F-150 can be ordered in just under ten million combinations of body, bed, engine, trim and options. The more choices the better. Truck buyers want to build a truck that fits their needs. Nothing more, nothing less.

Price- Prices for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! start at just over $24,000. With that money you get a 2WD V6 with over 300hp, can tow 5500lbs, and 23MPG. VW needs a truck with competitive pricing and capability just to survive. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! the midsize Amarak is already more expensive.

Can VW build a truck that does this? Hell yeah; there is not a doubt in my mind they could. They already have showed they can with the Amarak. The problem is, competing on the full size level requires a full size truck, something the Amarak is not. So before they even begin, they need spend billions developing a new truck and pricing it for very little. There is no room for the VW premium at the bottom of the truck market. The good news is that they can make it up on the higher end models.

So now that we have identified what VW needs to build a successful truck and established that they have the capabilities to do it based on the success of the Amarak; here is why they shouldn't.

Truck buyers are loyal , I mean beyond all logic loyal, like "I would rather be arrested for public intoxication than accept a ride in your Chevy loyal." That's not good for a new-comer. Outside of the big three, the only other company to even make a ripple in the full-size truck market has been Toyota with their second generation Tundra.

To make that ripple, Toyota invested !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! dollars to build a plant in the heart of truck country, Texas, USA. They designed the truck for Americans, had it built by Americans, and gave it the capabilities Americans wanted. In 2007, they forecasted !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . In 2008, they sold, 137,949; 2009, 79,385. In 2012, they sold 100,489. Let's put this in perspective; !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! F-150 pick-ups in 2012.

Volkswagen does have one ace in its sleeve compared with Toyota; Its line-up of TDI engines. Truck buyers have been begging for a half ton diesel for years. They are finally getting one in the form of the 2014 Ram 1500 and the 2017 Nissan Titan (another also-ran). If VW is the king of diesels, they would need to leverage that technology for a full size truck. Every other automaker is charging a premium for a diesel engine. If VW makes it a no cost option, since the development work is already done, I can promise they will get a few more looks. The problem is that looks don't translate into sales as Toyota is finding out.

Toyota is the reason Volkswagen should not build an F-150 competitor. For 2014, Toyota redesigned the Tundra. It is a great improvement over the previous model and marks millions more invested into the truck market. I still don't see it making a difference. Ram redesigned the 1500 in 2013, and added a diesel for 2014. Chevy redesigned the Silverado for 2014 and Ford has a new F-150 for 2015. With all these changes, brand loyalist have no reason to change. The fact is that all of these trucks are fantastic choices and a grossly over-capable for the people who buy them. If the truck you buy can handle all the jobs you throw at it, why would you change brands?The amount of money and time that Toyota has invested, with relatively little success, does not line up with how Volkswagen wants to build a customer base. VW wants quick sales, selling bland products to people who point at the car they want in a dealership. They don't want start over and prove their metal to a bunch of people who wont pay attention anyway. It's just bad business.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Bullitt417 12/27/2013 at 14:10

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Doesn't VW own Man Trucks?

Use that brand over here and the Bros will buy them.

Aaron James > Bullitt417 12/27/2013 at 14:10

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You'd really only be competing against Toyota and Nissan for new truck owners because very few Ford, Chevy, or Ram guys will ever switch brands, especially to a foreign brand. If VW tried to fight the F-150, they would lose. They'd have to appeal to a different segment of buyers.

Bullitt417 > Aaron James 12/27/2013 at 14:13

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That makes the value equation even worse. If you look at the numbers from pickuptrucks.com , Toyota and Nissan sold 122,000 full size trucks combined. If that is the slice of the pie you are looking at, why would you bother?

Bullitt417 > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 12/27/2013 at 14:17

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I don't really think so. These didn't exactly take off. I get that it is not an entirely fair comparison, but it shows the name doesn't mean too much. In the case of vans, Dodge did better selling Sprinters than Freightliner did, even though they were the exact same van. I think you will get a few buyers but not enough to make a business plan out of it.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Bullitt417 12/27/2013 at 14:19

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I'm just talking about the brand, if they were to build a full size truck with a diesel, the Bro market would be all theirs. What bro doesn't want a Man Truck in their life?

Aaron James > Bullitt417 12/27/2013 at 14:20

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Exactly, from a business perspective it makes zero sense so I highly doubt we'll ever see any new brands on the market.

Bullitt417 > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 12/27/2013 at 14:22

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I'd rather have a personal use Mack truck than a man, but that's probably the 'Murica in me talking.

Aaron James > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 12/27/2013 at 14:24

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I don't think the Bro market is big enough to be profitable and you still have a lot of the Bros that need to fly a huge American flag in the bed during the week of July 4th. You can't fly that flag from a foreign truck.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Aaron James 12/27/2013 at 14:25

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Believe me, I've seen it.

It's a "Porch-uh" > Bullitt417 12/27/2013 at 14:26

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No.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > Bullitt417 12/27/2013 at 14:35

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For 2014, Toyota redesigned the Tundra. It is a great improvement over the previous model and marks millions more invested into the truck market. I still don't see it making a difference.

For Toyota's sake, I hope they went bananas on redesigning the interior of the Tundra. I sat in a 2013 last night. A friend has one right now that is a rental due to his Dodge Ram getting whacked in the front by a lady in a Jeep Liberty who happened to be driving whilst not having a license.

After sitting in this thing, all I can say is ANYONE who bitches and moans about interiors in Fords and GM's has not sat in the Tundra.... I've seen better plastics in mid 60's econo-cars.... Swiping your finger across the glovebox will give you that sensation one gets when you scrape metal on a chalk board.... When we got in the truck and the key was put in the ignition, my eyes were assaulted by an all too familiar hue of hideous orange on the dash gauges and radio. If you've ever sat in a Pontiac with a digital dash from the mid '80's to the late '90's you know exactly the color I speak of...... Think of the below picture with just a hint less red and more orange.....

Even worse? The HVAC control buttons......Dark grey and black plastic everywhere save for the 3 HVAC knobs..... BRIGHT SILVER and about 2 inches in diameter. They are akin to my children's Duplo blocks.

I could go on for quite a bit more. I will say one more thing. Slight bumps in the Tundra. I know pickup truck beds do wiggle a bit, but I could FEEL the bed on this truck when we passed over railroad tracks at less than 10 MPH......

Toyota has a long way to go in the full size truck market. They got the engine right, not much else.

Bullitt417 > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! 12/27/2013 at 14:49

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It's better than it was but I think the new Ram's is still nicer. It looks a lot like the F-150 too in my opinion

Doctor-G-and-the-wagen > Bullitt417 01/10/2014 at 23:30

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I hate to be the grammar/spelling Nazi here, but it's spelled AMAROK. Given that it's the vehicle you're focusing on in your post, it would really help to spell it correctly.

Philbert/Phartnagle > Bullitt417 01/11/2014 at 03:47

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I pretty much agree with you.

Should they build one?

IMO, hell yeah! The competition only means that we will all get better products for hopefully less money.

Would it pay off though? I doubt it for the same reasons you stated.

Would I buy one? Umm, no I'm one of those brand loyal nuts you talked about.

I've always owned Fords, they have always served me well and I'm highly unlikely to ever switch brands. I have owned a "few" Chevrolets in the distant past and honestly, every one of them failed me in some manner, which led to me purchasing my first Ford.

Cé hé sin > Bullitt417 01/11/2014 at 11:36

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In breaking news, I've discovered that VW do sell a full size truck in America. It's really, really big. It'll tow great big heavy things. It's got lots of gears.It's designed and made in America. Not North America, but America nonetheless.

I bring you the:

VW Constellation

Bullitt417 > Doctor-G-and-the-wagen 01/15/2014 at 10:10

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I appreciate the correction. Either Google searches still directed me to the right pages or I just never picked up on it during my research. Either way, I corrected it. Thanks.