Z28Wilson

Amen to that. Listen, Nissan thought it could come into the full-size truck market with the Tundra and sell 100,000 units/year. They fell way short. Honda thinks they'll sell 100,000 Ridgelines. They will fall short. American truck buyers are truly the last collection of unflinching Patriots when it comes to their vehicle choice. The Ridgeline will sell to the soccer moms who are tired of SUVs and may get a look from metrosexual men. I'm NOT trying to be cute or funny or put anyone down, it's just the truth.

Threxx, Honda can tell me all about the wonderful things they did to their 4x4 Accord's platform....but in the end I feel it's more gimmic and window dressing than anything else, to make Ridgeline seem "tough", well designed from a truck standpoint and to not completely offend the American pickup truck buyer. I ain't buying what they're selling. I don't need Honda to tell me how great it is, let's see a review in the leading 4x4 magazines and let the real truck nuts get their greasy hands on one. They can tell me what they really think about the platform's execution.

Pace, I enjoy your posts very much. Sometimes I think your good points would be taken more seriously if you were less, ummm, blunt.

Beanboy

Nissan sold 83K TITANS last year. So far this year, they have sold 21K versus 14K last year at this time (end of March). A 54% sales increase in YTD sales. They should hit their target, and then some, this year.

-B

PacerX

General Motors will sell in excess of 1.5 million GMT-800's this year... just a little perspective for ya.

Threxx

Z28 Wilson and formula79, do you realize that cross-platforming and sharing drivetrains between multiple vehicles allows:
-More R&D dollars to go into said platform... thus improving it across the board for all vehicles, instead of spending the same amount of money and only improving it for one vehicle
-Less costs due to mass production and engineering = more profit.

As much as you may critisize companies such as Nissan (Altima/Maxima/Murano/FX/G35/350Z/M45/Q45 with obvious changes for FWD vs RWD), Honda (Accord/TSX/TL/Pilot/MDX/Ridgeline/Odyssey/etc), Toyota (Camry/ES330/Highlander/RX330/Sienna/Avalon/etc)... the fact is that most industry experts are agreeing that if you want to consolidate your R&D efforts and reduce costs enough to remain competetive yet profitable in the process... that this is the future. GM seems to agree as they've been doing this to an extent as well and seem to be pushing to standardize their platforms even more. Honda just happens to be the first to dare to do this with a truck instead of an SUV. The same uproar of enthusiasts occured when the first unibody SUVs showed up too, yet people seem to have given in to the fact that under some circumstances, unibody is a good idea for an SUV.

And I also doubt Honda just slapped on a ladder frame chasis underneath their unibody structure just so they could claim it was partially a 'true' truck to their potential customers.

Threxx

Isn't the GMT-800 the Silverado, Sierra, Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon, Yukon XL, Yukon Denali, Escalade, Escalade EXT, Avalanche, and possibly others I'm forgetting?

Isn't it kinda odd to compare 10+ model's total sales figures from a manufacturer who has historically been of if not the primary truck/SUV manufacturers in the US for decades versus the total sales of one truck model from a manufacturer who has done nothing but produced a small niche truck over the last couple of decades until the 21st century?

People said the same thing about Honda and Toyota cars when they first started being marketed. Heck the Americans AND the Germans said the same thing about Lexus in 1989... 16 years later Lexus is comfortably dominating the US luxury sales market and has been for a few years now.

MarineReconZ28

Well I don't think he meant it as a way to say GM is way better than Nissan, because they sell way more trucks. He was just pointing out hat GM will sell 1.5 mil.

Just take it as added info, not a means for an argument.

Threxx

He's been belittiling Japanese trucks as a whole the entire thread, so I doubt anything was said by Pacer-X just for 'added info'.

Beyond that, the person he was giving perspective was simply saying that Nissan is on track to demolish their 100k Titan goal this year.

No car manufacturer is going to release a truely new type of vehicle (for their brand) to the market and become the #1 seller overnight.

I was just saying if you're going to compare Titan sales to something then compare it to Silverado and Sierra sales... not all GMT-800 sales.

If you want to do it that way then you should add Armada, Pathfinder, Frontier, and QX56 sales to the Titan's, as they are all based off the same basic platform too. (yes I know even with all those added it's still a fraction of GM's 1.5 million... I'm just saying it's not as drastic of a difference as it may appear.

kick Z tail out

Chuck!

I really hope the GMT900s are no where near as ugly as the Titan and have a better interior so one one has an excuse to buy the Titan. Its almost a road hazard because I almost vomit everytime I see one.

SSCamaro99_3

Unfortunately this thing will sell well on the market they are after. If I am buying a truck I want a real one. Last August my parents bought a 2004 K1500 Sierra. It is extended cab, 5.3, 4x4. It has almost no options the floors are vinyl, and there are no pwer windows or locks. I love it. It does the things trucks are made for. It left the lot for $20,473 with 17.8 miles on the odometer. It is nice to buy cars when the new model year is hitting lots.

PacerX

Ok, since this apparently needs to be least-common-denominator:

GM will sell roughly 1.1 million full size PICKUP TRUCKS this year... and everyone one of them will actually be a pickup truck.

Eric Bryant

Ah, but how many of them will be used as trucks? And by that, I mean used in a manner that exceeds the capability of the Ridgeline. Let's give that variable the name X. Honda's potential market thus is 1,100,000 - X. That leaves a substantial number.

Honda's gamble thus would seem to be that those people care more about function than form - that people who don't use a truck like a truck will accept something that's less than a truck. That's a very risky move, especially considering that the traditional mini-trucks aren't finding any momentum in the market right now. In fact, the market seems to be going the other way right now, with the 3/4-ton extended-cab short-box being the new suburban poseur vehicle of choice.

I'm not defending the Ridgeline since I don't care for it, but I have a lot more fun picking on wimpy truck owners than I do picking on wimpy trucks

90rocz

When I first saw one of these, I had to do a double take; I thought it was a new "Avalanche".. ...woops, just a copy...

Jackal

I crapped out a turd last night that would make a better truck than that cut off minivan that Honda's trying to make pass as a Colorado competitor!

guionM

I wouldn't go as far as that, it actually is somewhat neat.

But to call it a "pickup truck" is about as close to deceptive as you can get without lawyers involved.