Power Reports: Full-Size Pickup Owners are the Most Loyal Buyers in the Industry

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.--Nov. 2, 20049, 2004--Owners of full-size pickup trucks have become increasingly loyal to the segment in the past two years, and are now the most segment-loyal customers in the industry, according to actual trade-in data from the Power Information Network (PIN).

PIN actual transaction data indicate that heavy-duty full-size pickup owners and light-duty full-size pickup owners now rank first and second, respectively, when measured by the propensity to trade for another vehicle in the same segment.

"More than one-half of all full-size pickup owners are now trading for another one, which substantially surpasses segment loyalty rates for all other segments except full-size SUV, which maintains about one-half of its owner base," said Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at the Power Information Network.

Among current heavy-duty full-size pickup owners, 63 percent will trade in their truck for a similar vehicle. While that percentage of loyal buyers is down from 67 percent in 2002, the rate of loyalty among light-duty full-size pickup owners has increased from 50 percent in 2002 to 58 percent in 2004.

One of the major reasons for the increase in light-duty full-size pickup loyalty is that fewer light-duty pickup owners are moving to heavy-duty pickups. In 2002, 19 percent of light-duty pickup owners moved into a heavy-duty pickup, while only 14 percent are doing so in 2004. There also are 2 percent fewer light-duty pickup owners going to compact pickups today than there were in 2002.

Full-size pickups have accounted for 15 percent of all new-vehicle sales through the first 10 months of 2004 -- up 2 percentage points from the same period in 2002. The 2004 share of full-size pickup sales equates to more than one in every seven new vehicles sold.

"Because they come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, there is a full-size pickup available to meet the needs of nearly every buyer," Libby said. "In addition to a variety of body styles, cab configurations, wheel bases and powertrains, full-size pickups also come in a price range from under $20,000 to more than $50,000."

The full-size pickup segment -- which includes both light- and heavy-duty pickups -- is now the second-largest segment and trails the largest segment -- premium midsize cars -- by just 1 percentage point compared with 5 points in 2002.

Percent of Consumers Who Trade for Another Vehicle in the
Same Segment(1)

Segment                       2002    2004   Change
HD Full-Size Pickup            67%     63%    -5%
LD Full-Size Pickup            50%     57%     7%
Full-Size SUV                  55%     51%    -4%
Luxury SUV                     43%     46%     3%
Full-Size Van                  58%     45%   -13%

ABOUT POWER INFORMATION NETWORK (PIN)

PIN's automotive solutions are based on the collection and analysis of daily new- and used-vehicle retail transaction information from automotive franchises. More than 250 details from individual new-vehicle purchase transactions are aggregated, cleansed and analyzed to help dealers, manufacturers, and financial institutions better align sales, marketing and product distribution strategies. PIN's industry-leading automotive solutions incorporate consumer demand and sales information to improve results in product planning, marketing, sales, and vehicle production and distribution processes for its customers including pricing, revenue management, incentives optimization, and vehicle remarketing. www.powerinfonet.com Media e-mail contact: john.tews@powerinfonet.com or michael.greywitt@powerinfonet.com

(1)Rankings are based on 2004 data. New-vehicle retail sales compiled for each year for July through October.