When I look at the current automarket the niche I think is being underserved is the mini-truck niche. I remember back in high school when small Toyota and Nissan trucks were all over the place here in SoCal and today there nowhere to be seen. Toyota and Nissan kept making them larger and more expensive with each new generation to the point that now they are not as affordable as they once were.

If the Chinese, Koreans, or GM for that matter could make a base RWD 4cyl mini truck for $10,000 base price and keep it small in size and amazingly cheap I think it would be a huge hit.

Something lightweight, cheap, RWD, and with a very modifiable 4 cycl (like GM's ecotech ) packaged as a mini-truck could become the next big thing out here in Socal if someone was smart enough to build it.

Just a rant for whatever its worth.......

 

You can get base Tacomas for as little as 13 grand on sale - 14.x sticker.

It'd have to come well equipped at that range to make a big impact.

 

Those Tacomas are a good deal and very reliable, but I still think is someone should bring out an even more compact truck with a base price of $9,995.00. While $13,000 vs. $10,000 doesn't sound like a big difference but it does amount to a 30% difference in price.

The whole import-tuner trend started out here in Socal in 1990 and ironically peaked out nationally 10 years later with the release of 'Fast and the Furious'. You know when a trend is going downhill fast is when Pep Boy's begins to market APC made parts with "Fast and the Furious" labeled boxes as a movie tie-in.

The key that made Civics so popular in the 1990's (especially the 1994 Civic) was that they were soooooo cheap and there were alot of Japanese aftermarket parts available.

In order for a new trend to begin it needs to start with a dirt cheap car/truck that kids can feel as if they a 'rebeling against the man'. The new tuner car/truck can't be something their parents are driving like a FWD sedan or SUV since you can't 'rebel against the man' if you are driving the 'man's' car

 

I agree.

But someone would have to spend developement dollars to create a new platform for it...or would it be based on some existing architecture?

Anyway, once we have the $10,000 RWD truck.....maybe we could spin a $13,000 RWD car off of it.

 

How long has it been since you were in High School?

 

A flash of an HHR with a bed in the back just flashed thru my eyes
Yes it would be FWD, just like the Rampage. Maybe they should make use of the powertrain configuration?

 

I graduated in 1989 so its been 17 years.

 

A new mini truck would need to somewhere in size between a Korean micro-truck and a 2006 Tacoma, but it must have a $10,000 base price to make it work.

Something like this in size and shape:

 

Hopefully it wouldn't actually end up looking like that.

 

According to the calculator on:
http://minneapolisfed.org/research/data/us/calc/

The auto market is just right then:
You can get into the small truck market easily for $16,000.

 

I can see that being a niche market, though I doubt any automaker would take it seriously. I was in high school only 6 years ago and little lowered S10's, Rangers, Nissans, Toyotas, etc. were popular tuner deals. And this was in Pennsylvania no less. I think johnsocal hit the nail on the head: all the auto manufacturers made their small trucks bigger and bigger and that little niche market went away fast. A buddy of mine up north had a little lowered S10 Blazer (late 80's model I believe) which he dropped a 350 into and you wanna talk about a loud, quick little sport truck

You cant exactly do that with todays "small trucks". One, they're way heavier than the old mini-trucks and two, they're not exacly small anymore.

 

That is what used 2WD S-10s are for.

$10K maybe you could have an Aveo with a bed and no A/C. Air bags alone would be at least 10% of your mini-trucks cost.

A base Colorado is $13,519 (invoce + destination - rebate)

I'd rather see GMC dump the Canyon and build a version of something like the Dodge M80 off the 355 platform

 

Why RWD in something that small?

I played with a few sketches of Cobalt sized El Camino sized vehicles for younger urban markets and my own needs to haul the mountain bike around the country. You could even possible look at the Aveo platform is you're not intending any serious performance.

 

I was thinking the same thing, but I was biased to RWD for performance reasons. The Aveo platform would most likely be the most do-able since its already made in Korea , but it would need the ecotech and a $9,995.00 base price.

I would prefer the boxy styling of a small little truck over the 'aero-dynamic egg' shape of most sub-compacts and micro-cars.

 

I still love that concept. Maybe Dodge could offer a 2 seat Caliber with a bed. I would definately consider that! As to the original question I think it would sell, but alas I didn't win the lottery so I can't get started on it.