Most people buying Expeditions probably don't consider them "trucks". They are used in mini-van service, so forcing the line to help with CAFE standards isn't costing Ford sales.
It's a problem for the few of us who greatly prefer a V-8. A deal-breaker for some, but most buyers are more concerned about the wi-fi.
True and sad. I think the manufacturers have a very poor grasp of what customers really do want though. And remember there are three or four different types of customers at the minimum. He would have to see how the percentages breakdown but do they just want to cater to the largest group of buyers or do they want to cater to the largest three or four groups of buyers to get as many sales as possible?
This is where I think they do a very poor job. There are people out there that want trucks and even SUVs with big V8 and lots of torque and either towing capacity so that's one type of customer. It's a smaller group though.
The vast majority don't care what kind of engine is in it as long as it runs and operates like they expect.
I also think extreme push for horsepower and the horsepower Wars they pretty much have had over the past 15 + years are ridiculous! Hummer talking about the grocery getter, minivan style SUV.... the average person never even presses the pedal past halfway down.
They don't tow anything with it, they don't care what the 0 to 60 time is, and they don't care if it has 385 horsepower or 225 horsepower.
We used to have options of 6 cylinders or 8 cylinders or sometimes even 4,6,8.
We had options for a basic vehicle or even a strip down at a lower price without all the features, amenities, and fanciness and then you could get different levels or all the way to the fully loaded one.
Now, pretty much everything made is very decked out with more horsepower than the average person will ever need and it cost a lot more money.
I know people still driving 4-cylinder stick shift S10 pickup trucks.
There is certainly a large market for these type of vehicles to but they just don't seem to be offered.
The technology aspect of cars was an upward evolution but now they really can go back the other way. Cars don't really need Wi-Fi or Internet connection in them anymore because everyone's found is now Unlimited data and has good fast speeds. Once 5G blankets the country that is even going to be better for people with their phones. All the car needs is simple connectivity to your phone. So basically a $20 radio from Walmart that connects to your phone will give most people anything they will ever need. I actually have one of them and it works awesome. I play my entire playlist or anything I want through my phone and then I also take my calls through it and it works perfectly hands-free.
The only thing above that you need to consider is having a screen in the dash and screens and the headrest for the roof for passengers so you can Bluetooth video to them. Very basic stuff today and every human inside the vehicle is going to have a phone that does everything so all you need is basic connectivity to the audio or the screens.
