Rolling Along in the Driver's Seat; Light Trucks Put Automakers On the Road to A Record in '99
Low unemployment, low interest rates, a soaring stock market, virtually no inflation and high consumer confidence in the economy drove buyers to new-vehicle showrooms in record numbers in 1999, according to auto industry analysts and executives.</br></br>But the really good news for automakers and their dealers was that a solid 48 percent of those buyers chose light trucks--pickups, vans, minivans and sport-utility vehicles.</br></br>Trucks generally bring in more money than cars. For example, look at Ford's third-quarter 1999 performance. According to industry analysts, Ford had an average pretax profit of $953 on each vehicle that it sold in the United States in the third quarter. The automaker broke even on cars, generally losing money on smaller models such as the compact Contour sedan, while making up the losses on sales of large and luxury cars.</br></br>But Ford earned an average of $2,540 on every pickup, sport- utility vehicle, van and minivan it delivered to consumers, analysts said.</br></br>"At the beginning of the year, if anyone had told me that we'd be looking at this kind of number, I would not have believed them," said Jim O'Connor, president of the Ford Division of Ford Motor Co. "I don't think many people would've believed them."