3 ms·
What prevented any of the big 3 from copying a European or Japanese light truck design as a means of taking advantage of the tariff? With 3 major manufacturers
by ethagknight 9y ago
What prevented any of the big 3 from copying a European or Japanese light truck design as a means of taking advantage of the tariff? With 3 major manufacturers in America, Why did small truck and van development totally stall? If I recall correctly, prior to the arrival of Mercedes' Sprinter, the Ford Econoline brand of vans, along with their dodge and chevy competitors, were typically based on truck frame designs a decade or two older.
- linksnapzz 9y agoNothing prevented them; Detroit automakers either had substantial interests in foreign makers selling light trucks outside North America, or were in some cases selling small pickups and vans designed by their own foreign divisions. They simply did not feel that smaller/lighter trucks & vans would be profitable, or profitable enough. This goes off and on; often one of the Detroit makes will go years without having an entry in the small truck market. There are advantages to using a pickup-style perimeter frame to make a van, that said, unlike Ford & Chevy, the Dodge B-series vans were unitized from the '70s on.