By Richard Truesdell
First, thanks for all the wonderful responses to my first CEoutlook contribution. It feels great to be back in the 12-volt world.
Looking into my future product crystal ball, one segment screams out to me, compact pickups. Base model compact trucks– the lower trim levels under the $30,000 price point offer basic in-dash systems. This allows 12-volt retailers an opportunity to offer after-sale system upgrades. These trucks will have smaller standard screens, typically seven inches or smaller.
Base model compact trucks with non-premium systems present the greatest opportunity for high-powered amplifiers, upgraded full-range speakers, subwoofers, and application-specific subwoofer enclosure after sales.
Several compact pickup trucks are coming from many OEMs to challenge the hot-selling Ford Maverick. While there is no generally recognized definition of what constitutes a compact truck… for this discussion we will use 200 inches overall length as the dividing point before going into the midsized category. Over the next 24 months, the compact trucks that are coming to market should provide strong opportunities for all 12-volt retailers.
Back in the day, when I was a 12-volt retailer, compact trucks were a very big market segment for me. But then they all but disappeared from the United States. This can be attributed to two reasons. First is the 25 percent so-called “chicken tax” on light-duty pickups built outside of the US, Canada, and Mexico. The second reason was it cost almost as much to manufacture a less-capable compact truck as a midsized one. That’s one reason why the midsized Dodge Dakota disappeared in 2011.
All that seems to have changed with the Ford Maverick starting at under $25,000. Buyers are looking for inexpensive. To keep costs down, the Maverick is built on a unibody platform instead of body-on-frame construction found on traditional full-size pickups. These trucks, even when fully equipped, will be priced lower than the base model full-size pickups.
So here’s a rundown of what we will see over the next 12-24 months.
Ford Maverick
(See top photo)
On-sale: Now
Price range: $23,400-$35,000
Length: 199.7 inches
Ford has led the charge back into this untapped segment. Priced below the midsized Ford Ranger, it is built on a front-wheel-drive car/crossover platform that it shares with the revamped Ford Escape coming shortly. Its popularity will wane when meaningful competition enters the market. Already 12-volt dealers should be seeing the Maverick in their installation bays.
Hyundai Santa Cruz
On-sale: Now
Price range: $25,700 – $40,500
Length: 195.7 inches
The Hyundai Santa Cruz was the first to come to market to battle the Ford Maverick and has been a sales success for the South Korean brand, selling 3,079 units in August 2023. From January through August Hyundai moved 26,032 and will sell about 40,000 units in calendar year 2023. What’s interesting is that Hyundai was developing the Santa Cruz, as Ford was developing the Maverick. But with its screen fully integrated into the dash, it looks more old school compared to competitors who mount their screens as pods.
Honda Ridgeline
On-sale: Now
Price Range: $38,800-$46,230
Length: 210.2 inches
The Honda Ridgeline has been around for three generations with several updates since 2005. It is the grandfather of this current generation of unibody-based pickups. In reality, it is a midsized truck given that it is 210.2 inches long. It’s bigger than the new generation of compact trucks. But built on a car-based unibody platform and manufactured in the United States (Lincoln, Alabama), it is the template which the current crop of smaller compact trucks follow.
Toyota Stout
On-sale: 2024
Price range: $25,000-$40,000
Length: 203.5 inches
When Toyota entered the US market more than six decades ago, one of its mainstay models was the Stout compact (really subcompact) pickup. In 2024, Toyota is poised to return to the segment with a modern-day Stout. It will be based on the unibody RAV4 SUV platform. Since the best-selling RAV4 is built in Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky, plant, it is expected that the Stout will be built there (thus avoiding any “chicken tax” issues from day one). It is expected that the Stout will offer a hybrid version. With the Stout, Tacoma, and Tundra, Toyota will be going head-to-head across all categories with Ford. The Stout, with Toyota’s legendary build quality, is expected to provide “stout” competition to the Blue Oval.
Ram Rampage
On-sale: mid-2024
Price range: $28,000-$45,000 (est)
Length: 198.0 inches
There is a lot of excitement and speculation surrounding the upcoming Ram Rampage. Recently introduced in the Brazilian market, Ram parent Stellantis is mulling over its options. Because of the “chicken tax,” to be competitive with the Ford Maverick, it will need to be built in North America. Ram has been absent from the smaller-than-full-size segment since 2011 when the Ram Dakota was discontinued. The Rampage is going to be a major player. Expect it to be built in Mexico in a four-wheel drive version at introduction in 2024 with a two-wheel-drive version to follow. The interior found on the Brazilian version looks stunning for such an inexpensive vehicle. This follows the class-leading interiors found in the full-size Ram trucks. (Remember the horrible hard-plastic interiors found in DaimlerChrysler products of the 2000s? Ram has come a long way since then.)
Chevrolet Montana
On-sale: 2025 (Maybe)
Price range: $28,000-$40,000
Length: 185.7 inches
Like Ram, Chevrolet has recently released a Brazilian-built unibody pickup for sale in Latin American markets. It has just gone on sale in Mexico. So 12-volt dealers in border states like Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, will likely see the Montana before GM makes any announcement for official US availability. Like other imported trucks it falls under the “chicken tax” so unless it is built in the US, Mexico, or Canada, it would not be price competitive with the hot-selling Ford Maverick. Speculation is that until it can be built in North America, it will not be available domestically. With the possibility of it being built in a GM plant in Mexico, we could see it in the US as a 2025 model.
GMC Syclone
On-sale: 2025 (maybe)
Price range: $45,000
Length: 185.7 inches
Like Chevrolet, GMC currently has a midsized pickup, the Canyon, available in the US. But with the sales success of Ford’s Maverick, will it try to compete in the compact segment? The best guess is yes. But as with Chevrolet, any sort of GMC compact truck is at least 12 to 18 months from introduction. There is already a rumored high-performance V-8 variant, a concept called the Syclone. This turbocharged, 280-horsepower pickup references GMC’s compact 1990s muscle truck and will likely cost at least $45,000. If introduced, it will not initially have a direct competitor from Chevrolet.
Additional Possibilities (Based on Speculation)
Nissan Surf-Out
On-sale: 2025 (maybe)
Price range: $50,000-$70,000 (est)
Length: 210.0 (est)
Nissan recently announced that after 20 years, it is discontinuing its full-size Titan. It needs to find a product to fill the void in the Titan’s Canton, Mississippi, plant. It currently sells the Frontier here, a mid-sized pickup. Nissan dealers are clamoring for a small, pickup like it offered in the 1970s. The wild card for Nissan is that it is pushing hard in the EV space. Could its compact pickup be based on the Surf-Out concept? (Its interior pictured here is very much a concept design). And could Nissan’s compact pickup come out the gate as a battery-electric EV? Don’t look for it before 2025 at the earliest.
Kia Mohave
On-sale: 2025 (Australia)
Price range: $30,000-$50,000
Length: 212.6 inches
This year Kia has shown its rugged-looking Mohave concept truck that is reportedly heading to Australia in 2024. The Australian market is huge for smaller pickups, called Utes down under. The biggest obstacle would be that the Kia pickup is rumored to be a body-on-frame design like a traditional American half-ton pickup. That would make it hard to produce in Kia’s West Point, Georgia, plant that builds Kia’s current crop of car-based SUVs like the Sorrento. But might it appear on Hyundai-Kia’s highly-regarded E-GMP EV platform?
Other Possibilities
Back in 1980, when Mitsubishi launched US sales, long-time 12-volt retailers will remember that it sold a compact pickup truck called the Mighty Max. It also supplied Dodge a mighty Max twin called the D50 from 1981 to 1986. Currently, it sells a compact truck in many countries, the Triton, that could be adapted for US sales. But like other pickups not produced in the US, Canada, and Mexico, it would be subject to the “chicken tax.” Unless it can find a way to build it here, its entry into the US market is unlikely.
Believe it or not, Volkswagen manufactures a compact pickup truck, the Amarok. It is currently built in Argentina and like the Chevrolet Montana, it is available in Latin America markets like Mexico, so border state 12-volt dealers might occasionally see one in their shops. But because of the “chicken tax” official US availability is unlikely anytime soon.
Takeaway Insight: With so many OEM manufacturers jumping into the compact pickup truck segment between 2024 and 2026, this presents a great opportunity for 12-volt retailers.. These trucks are aimed at younger, first-time new vehicle purchasers who can’t afford $40,000 and up for a traditional full-size, body-on-frame half-ton pickup.
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One thing with some of these base model vehicles is they do not have Sirius XM built in… a great opportunity for VAIS products to upgrade.
Additionally, some do not have cruise control either.
Current Ford Maverick owner. One note that drove my decision. A base Hybrid Maverick competes with a smaller suv/cuv or sedan as far as price, practicality and gas mileage. So a Civic or Corolla might be getting cross-shopped with these types of vehicles as well as a first car or commuter.
That is the feedback I am getting when I talk with Ford dealers. The Maverick is the least expensive new vehicle in a Ford showroom, replacing the Focus and even the Fusion. Which would you rather have, a Maverick or a Focus, a Fusion, or even an Escape CUV (at about the same price)? The answer is a no-brainer, the Maverick which provides four-passenger capability (plus the driver) in a more versatile package.
I think the base models offer 12-volt dealers a great opportunity to sell amps, upgraded speakers, and subwoofers. I am just getting back into the industry with these columns. Does any manufacturer offer an application-specific subwoofer enclosure, either loaded or unloaded, powered or non-amplified, for the Maverick? Is there space in your Maverick for a small subwoofer enclosure? If so, where? How big?
—Richard Truesdell