“Just look at the pickup market. Gas hogs most of them”
You don’t know trucks if that’s your view. I’ve got a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 with a 5.7L Hemi. Puts out 390hp and 400ft/lbs torque, yet, it can easily achieve 28mpg at 55mph, and never averages under 17mpg and usually 19mpg to 22mpg.
Ford has a similar offering and Dodge just introduced the new EcoDiesel at 24mpg average.
As far as expense, most SUVs and many cars cost more than a truck, yet, a truck can have far more to offer in features, capabilities, and equipment.
“You don’t know trucks if that’s your view.”
It’s my view and I’m sticking with it, having rarely been without a truck in the last 45 years.
I don’t buy anything in a truck that is not at least three quarter ton. My 97 and 96 chev 350 cu inch V-8’s get maybe fifteen when not pulling a trailer. Ten when towing, and one is two wheel drive, and the other four wheel drive. The mileage is about the same between them. The four wheel drive is automatic, the two wheel is a real five speed. Don’t know off the top of my head what the final drive ration is between them, although the vin number should tell me.
I buy mainly for utility and price, which means used. I have never bought a new pickup, and only four new cars, but I do car lot, and new ford pickups are way over sixtie grand. It would take years to amortize that kind of money based on gas mileage gains from ‘97 to ‘14 and I’m not enamored of large debt to get a business tax writeoff on new or barely used. I also have to have a long bed, increasingly difficult to find due to the overall length increase caused by crew cab popularity. Extra cab long bed good used pickups are rare, and new would probably require special order if I chose to afford it.
When the trucks are compared to the three primary people haulers, Honda Accord, Merc Grand Marquis, and 07 Mustang GT there is no comparison they are all at or above twenty five MPG. They each cost more than double the cost of a single pickup.