Audi sparked headlines around the web last week after its CEO was quoted saying that the brand was thinking about creating an electric pickup truck. The idea got a lot of attention but is it a good enough one for other premium and luxury automakers to steal?
Although it’s hard to separate the pickup truck from its blue-collar associations, it would be just as difficult to argue that the American automakers haven’t been pushing pickups trucks into increasingly luxurious realms over the last decades. Not only do Ram’s pickups have advanced tech and pretty nice-looking interiors, GMC has been introducing luxury trims and carbon fiber into its pickups’ design.
Read Also: Audi Confirms Pickup Truck Under Consideration, Could Arrive Soon In Concept Form
GMC’s first EV, meanwhile, is a pickup truck whose first edition model costs more than $100,000 and is pretty up there when it comes to luxury. And that’s to say nothing of the Tesla Cybertruck or the Rivian R1T.
Despite their popularity, European automakers have long been scared out of making pickup trucks for the U.S. market for a number of reasons, among them consumers’ loyalty to American brands and the expense of making a ladder frame that can’t be used as widely as, say, Audi’s MLB platform, which underpins sedans and SUVs alike.
American automakers have proven, though, that modern electric platforms can make convincing pickups while Ford and Hyundai are showing that there’s a market for car platform-based pickups outside of the 1500 category as well – something that traditional luxury brands can more easily create.
Should this be automakers’ next big area of investment? Can European manufacturers finally make headway into the tightly controlled North American pickup market by skewing towards luxury? Is that something anyone wants? Let us know in the comments.
Note: The opening image is an independently designed Porsche truck project from Adel Bouras. Read more about it here
Speculative illustration of an Audi Quattro pickup created by independent designer Raleigh Haire in 2020 that are neither related to nor endorsed by Audi.