Comments on: After the Routan minivan, VW considers ‘Robust’ pickup http://www.egmcartech.com/2008/02/27/after-the-routan-minivan-vw-considers-robust-pickup/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=after-the-routan-minivan-vw-considers-robust-pickup Auto News, Car Reviews, Live Auto Show Coverage Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:43:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Allen http://www.egmcartech.com/2008/02/27/after-the-routan-minivan-vw-considers-robust-pickup/comment-page-1/#comment-340977 Allen Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:21:41 +0000 http://www.egmcartech.com/2008/02/27/after-the-routan-minivan-vw-considers-robust-pickup/#comment-340977 Kinda reminds me of a movie I saw once. A record exec asks an indie artist why "if your music is so great, why isn't it tearing up the charts?" The artist responds "because the charts are based upon what songs get the most play, and you never play any of my music." The reason the Robust can't sell here is because they won't try offering it. Yet, history should prove the Robust would be a hit here. After all, in the early 70s as gas prices soared, Japanese compact pickups sold at astronomical rates. Why? Because full-size GM pickups, at the time, were only capable of towing about as much (or even less) than the Japanese trucks. Even more, the Japanese trucks were way more fuel efficient. A common rail diesel truck would sell well here to construction and agricultural interests, just give it 6-7000lb towing capacity and all would be well. The 10000lb business is meaningless: a residential user's boat won't weigh more than 2000lbs, and if a commercial user needs more than 5000lbs or so they are probably towing construction machinery, which can't be towed by anything with as little as 10000lb capacity anyway. Kinda reminds me of a movie I saw once. A record exec asks an indie artist why “if your music is so great, why isn’t it tearing up the charts?”

The artist responds “because the charts are based upon what songs get the most play, and you never play any of my music.”

The reason the Robust can’t sell here is because they won’t try offering it. Yet, history should prove the Robust would be a hit here. After all, in the early 70s as gas prices soared, Japanese compact pickups sold at astronomical rates. Why? Because full-size GM pickups, at the time, were only capable of towing about as much (or even less) than the Japanese trucks. Even more, the Japanese trucks were way more fuel efficient.

A common rail diesel truck would sell well here to construction and agricultural interests, just give it 6-7000lb towing capacity and all would be well. The 10000lb business is meaningless: a residential user’s boat won’t weigh more than 2000lbs, and if a commercial user needs more than 5000lbs or so they are probably towing construction machinery, which can’t be towed by anything with as little as 10000lb capacity anyway.

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