I'm just trying to help folks understand how it works outside the HN bubble. People buy trucks because it's what they feel they need (even if it isn't; that truck likely is going to be a garage queen and never leave pavement), for some it satisfies a part of their self image and ego, and a lot of folks buying them aren't fiscally responsible and buy them anyway (repo lots are a savvy way to find lightly used diesel pickups in good condition someone overspent on before a sophisticated broker/dealer acquires them and marks them up to the public).
> The Ford F-150 is the single most popular truck in America today and the most-popular vehicle in 44 states. It outsold the Ram pickup in 2019 by 78%.
> The average age of the new F-150 buyer is 55. It may not be too surprising that about 16% of new Ford F-150 owners are female/84% male. About three-quarters of all new Ford F-150s are purchased by white males, although Hispanic buyers account for 22% of total incremental growth of new F-150 sales from 2010 to 2017.
> Despite any TV ads you see with F-150s in a rural or country setting, the vast majority of these new trucks are in large and medium-sized cities.
> The average household income of a new Ford F-150 owner is about $82,000 per year. By comparison the median household income in the United States is $61,937.
> If that average household income sounds high, remember this! The F-150 has a base MSRP under $30,000. But, we priced a 2020 Ford F-150 Platinum Edition with all the bells & whistles and accessories for over $74,000!
All emphasis mine. This is the market environment Tesla is operating in and attempting to displace combustion pickup sales in.
So, contradicting my previous claims, it looks like, while the starting price is about 28k, the ASP is 47k(!), so if the average buyer earns 80k household income, yeah, they're _really_ overspending.
So most non-fleet truck buyers are older males. They have the money and they want a truck. There is nothing wrong with that. A lot of internet commentary about the scourge of trucks is focused on them being "mall crawlers" and that few people that own trucks use them for their purpose, as if there was only one true purpose for trucks. This is, frankly, a meme that exists mostly in online auto discussion bubbles.
In terms of folks making 80k a year buying 50k trucks (the Platinum is an outlier), resale is high and interest rates are low. The larger issue on the latter point is how sustainable this is for Ford Motor Credit Company. That's a complex topic.
The biggest knock I can think of on trucks is their interior materials are not commensurate for their price. That said the F-150 Super Crew is about as comfortable an SUV as you can buy. They are very reliable. They weigh slightly more than a Toyota 4-Runner and have reasonable gas mileage. All cars are much larger than they were 15 years ago. The Super Crew is extremely safe. Trucks are much taller than previous generations, which makes them seem outlandish.
I'm not trying to refute you, just adding color as to why things are the way they are.
https://hedgescompany.com/blog/2018/10/pickup-truck-owner-de...
> The Ford F-150 is the single most popular truck in America today and the most-popular vehicle in 44 states. It outsold the Ram pickup in 2019 by 78%.
> The average age of the new F-150 buyer is 55. It may not be too surprising that about 16% of new Ford F-150 owners are female/84% male. About three-quarters of all new Ford F-150s are purchased by white males, although Hispanic buyers account for 22% of total incremental growth of new F-150 sales from 2010 to 2017.
> Despite any TV ads you see with F-150s in a rural or country setting, the vast majority of these new trucks are in large and medium-sized cities.
> The average household income of a new Ford F-150 owner is about $82,000 per year. By comparison the median household income in the United States is $61,937.
> If that average household income sounds high, remember this! The F-150 has a base MSRP under $30,000. But, we priced a 2020 Ford F-150 Platinum Edition with all the bells & whistles and accessories for over $74,000!
All emphasis mine. This is the market environment Tesla is operating in and attempting to displace combustion pickup sales in.