Tricked out
DETROIT — Heated and cooled seats. Backup cameras. Panoramic glass roofs.
Not exactly what springs to mind when you think of a pickup. But that’s what American truck buyers increasingly want, spending an average of $46,844 on a pickup, according to Kelley Blue Book. That’s more than the starting price of luxury SUVs like the Mercedes GLC or the Lexus RX.
At the State Fair of Texas this month, Ford Motor Co. is displaying its most expensive pickup yet: The F-Series Super Duty Limited, a luxury heavy-duty truck with a starting price of $80,835. It has custom two-tone leather seats, a heated steering wheel wrapped in hand-stitched leather and high-tech features like a 360-degree camera system that guides drivers when they’re hitching up a trailer.
A fully-loaded F-450 will top out at $94,455. It’s capable of towing an Air Force F-35 fighter plane, but it also has massaging seats.
On a recent visit to the fair, some visitors balked at the prices. One said he’s rather buy a Mercedes S-Class if he had $80,000 to spare. But others took the high prices in stride.
“It’s awesome. I’d love to be going down the road in it right now,” said Paul Churchill as he sat in the cab of the Super Duty Limited. “If you’re looking for all the technology they have in these trucks now, it’s probably worth it.”
The luxury trend has helped pickups outpace the industry in terms of the prices they command. So far this year, the average vehicle is selling for $34,671, up 38 percent from 2005. The average price of a full-size truck has jumped 54 percent in that same period, to $46,844.