I think there is more than a single factor affecting lethargic sales.
1 FACTOR:
A good portion of buyers *want* to look cool in the big truck or fast car… but don’t *need* it. If they needed to tow or haul, then they wouldn’t compromise the truck by lifting it or installing huge tires, or programming absurd tunes. How often do you see ANY trailer hitch in the receiver? Let alone one rated for more than 5,000 lbs in a truck rated to tow 18,000 lbs??
The economy has made it more costly for posers to roll around flexing fake *****. The whole reason I bought a new Cummins years back was because it was nigh impossible to find an unmolested used one. They were all “Bro-dozers”.
2 FACTOR:
Once you scare off the posers, you have the weekend warriors and the farmers/commercial users remaining. Undoubtedly, boat and RV sales have tapered off too, so the weekend warrior class probably isn’t buying HD pickups as much any more. Now you’re left with the farmers/commercial users, and they tend to drive their rigs until the wheels fall off.
3 FACTOR:
Diesels have become overly complex, difficult and costly to repair. I’d sure prefer NOT to deal with DEF and assorted emissions garbage. I have a 2018, but would trade for brand new 2001 in a heartbeat. In fact, I have a 2001 half-ton and prefer to drive it over my Cummins. Now there is this recall thing with the EPA Cummins lawsuit too..
4 FACTOR:
Ram doesn’t get much in the way of government contracts. Ford HDs may be taking a similar hit, but various states and counties seem to buy fleets of Ford, exclusively, which likely masks their own poor sales to a large extent. Police departments alone kept Ford making the Crown Victoria for years after it was obsolete.
5 FACTOR:
The HD trucks are just too damn big, too damn powerful, too high strung, too damn expensive to buy, too expensive to insure, and too expensive to leave parked in public.
I’m way too young to sound so old, but a modern HD truck is comparable to an overly bred race horse. I don’t want a $100,000 race horse with brittle hooves, expensive shoes, overstressed tendons, special feed & supplement requirements, constant vet checks, and neurosis that renders it unrideable outside a racetrack. I’m happier with a good reliable ranch horse.
Similarly, I don’t want 1200 ft*lbs of torque, wrapped in a $100,000 package, waiting to get door dinged before the first payment clears OR dropping into limp mode because it didn’t like the fuel it got. The typical driver is no more competent to pull 30,000 lbs than to ride the aforementioned race horse.
There are other factors too, but I’m out of wind. ;-)
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