General Motors Sees Stronger Sales of Light-Duty Trucks in ’87
Sales of light-duty trucks will be even stronger in 1987 than in 1986 despite industrywide expectations of a shrinking passenger vehicle market, a General Motors Corp. truck executive said Friday.
“We’re going for a record next year. We’ve still got the passenger car-to-truck crossover, so even if the industry is smaller, we think the truck business will be better,” said John Rock, manager of GMC truck operations.
Rock made his remarks at a national preview of the 1988 GMC Sierra, GM’s first all-new pickup truck in nearly 15 years.
Three plants with a combined capacity of more than 650,000 trucks a year began producing the Sierra and its three Chevrolet nameplate counterparts--the Silverado, Scottsdale and Cheyenne--in December, Rock said.
Car-Buyer’s Truck
While the Chevy truck is being marketed as a “workhorse,” the GMC Sierra is being touted as a car-buyer’s truck, emphasizing internal comfort, smooth ride and streamlined aerodynamic styling aimed at suburban and city men and women.
“This truck will drive as good as any car we make,” Rock said. Like its GMC predecessors, the Sierra will be sold through Pontiac, Buick and Oldsmobile dealers.
Despite its style and comfort characteristics, Rock emphasized that the Sierra is a full-size truck, an inch longer than its predecessor, three inches narrower and one inch lower. He said it was not intended to match Chrysler Corp.’s new mid-size Dakota truck.
Sales results from 1986 back up Rock’s assertion that demand for full-size pickups never has been stronger. The best-selling vehicle of 1986 was the Ford Motor Co. F-Series full-size pickup, which outsold the Ford Escort, the best-selling car of the year.
At GM, the best-selling vehicle also was a full-size pickup, which outsold the Chevrolet Celebrity, its top-selling car. Rock estimated that 600,000 former car buyers chose a light truck instead in 1986.
Sales Increase
When GM last introduced a new full-size pickup, light trucks accounted for 20% of U.S. vehicle sales, Rock said. In 1986, one in three vehicles sold was a light truck as sales reached 4.6 million.
GMC expects to sell 45,000 Sierras before the 1987 model year ends Sept. 30, as production at the plants slowly accelerates. At the same time, it expects to sell 71,000 of Sierra’s predecessor 1987 GMC full-size pickup.
The 1987 pickup will be produced and sold until June, when it will be replaced by the new truck. Sierra will be delivered to dealers’ showrooms at the end of April.
Rock said company predictions for GMC’s total light truck sales for the 1987 model year, which began in October and ends Sept. 31, were 309,000 to 310,000, slightly lower than the 312,724 sold in the 1986 model year.
No price was released for the trucks, but Rock said they would be competitive with the 1987 Ford full-size pickup. Rock said he hoped the GM truck’s newness would propel its sales past Ford’s.
