4WDs take over the tarmac in U.S.: Industry analysts

By Alexander Corne

FORGET passenger cars.

The rough, tough world of big sport utilities or four-wheel drive recreational vehicle is where it's at in the United States. And the epidemic is spreading through the motoring world.

America's love affair with the car is evolving into infatuation with truck-based 4WD recreational vehicles.

Industry analysts predict that before the end of the decade, more truck-based 4WD vehicles will be sold than passengers cars in the U.S. That means about three million 4WD wagons would be sold each year.

The 4WD sector grew from under one million vehicles in 1990 to 1.75 million in 1995.

This trend is fed by a seemingly unceasing number of new model introductions.

Surprisingly this new fashion comes from Detroit, America's car-making heartland. Once besieged by invading Japanese transplant factories with the aim of making the best cars in America, Detroit has begun to fight back.

The Big Three -- Ford, Chrysler and General Motors -- are hitting back with what they know best. Size. And the most effective way of selling size is when it looks like a truck.

So the Ford Ranger pickup gave birth to the Explorer -- the "full-size" F150 pickup, America's biggest selling vehicle and truck sector leader -- and it gave birth to the Expedition, which seats nine and uses a massive 5400cc V8 engine.

Over at Chrysler, Dodge brand's best-selling Dakota truck, which goes head to head with Ford's Ranger, has just spawned a 4WD wagon called Durango.

The Explorer's challenger uses the Dakota's front end, but adds a wagon body that seats eight and uses a V6 or choice of V8 engines.

Just to reinforce the truck message, 47 of America's top motoring writers recently voted the Ford Expedition as Truck of the Year.

Despite the fact that the Expedition is no workhorse, the award reflects America's all-consuming passion for truck-based recreational vehicles.

Even if they never venture off tar into the bush, or even if they only carry two people, American drivers are buying into the image that they are outback adventurers.

Never slow to latch on to a good idea, American automakers are moving the 4WD market into the prestige car buyers market.

Now it is trendy to drive a 4WD wagon. The Big Three's marketing gurus hope to attract wealthy, fashion-conscious prestige car buyers with a range of truck-based 4WD products.

If the Range Rover is too small and its 4600cc V8 too feeble, or if the Lexus LX450 (actually a remodeled Land Cruiser) is too Japanese, Detroit's automakers are happy to offer the Lincoln Navigator, Mercury Mountaineer, while General Motors contributes the GMC Yukon and Suburban.

At the recent North American International Auto Show held in Detroit, almost every manufacturer had a 4WD wagon to show, though not all were ready for production.

The gaudy GMC Yukon Denali, a gold encrusted overblown caricature of a prestige 4WD, is guaranteed to attract those with too much cash and not enough taste. What's important is that it is big, it will get you noticed and, er, it is big.

The 4WD frenzy is so strong even Mercedes-Benz has been caught up. At a new plant in Alabama, Mercedes is building a 4WD called the M-Class, which goes on sale late this year. It offers seats for five, a V6 or later a V8 engine and it will bid to be king of the off-road. Its pricing is unknown but it will probably pitch just under Range Rover and above the American domestic makes.

The 4WD buzz has revitalized drowning U.S. brands such as Mercury and could help save Lincoln. If conservative Lincoln customers can be lured into a 4WD, such as the Navigator with its big rig style grille and souped up interior lined with leather and burr walnut, then no prestige brand will be able to ignore the off-roader market.

Even Cadillac may have to consider getting its tires dirty.

So from where has this trend suddenly appeared?

Some say the dangers and frustrations of life in urban America prompted city dwellers to look for a vehicle that can protect them from a daily diet of car hijacking, mugging and personal assault. Some say it's the old story of drivers wanting the biggest rig in town, while a few are thought to buy these vehicles for their genuine off-road abilities.

The new Lincoln Navigator, for instance, comes with a 5400cc V8 engine, antilock brakes and compact disc player, but if you want four-wheel drive, you pay extra. And despite its name, it doesn't offer a satellite navigation system to help you get around. There's not even a sunroof for manual steering by the stars.

In truth, the truck market in the U.S. has been huge for decades.

But the boom is being led by more attractively styled vehicles such as the best selling Ford F150, the new Dodge Ram and Dakota, which offer big-rig looks but excellent comfort, flexibility and better build. This is why they are luring drivers out of compact passenger cars in the hundreds of thousands.

Once sold on the concept of a truck for everyday work, it has been easy to translate this into a family 4WD wagon based on the familiar underpinnings.

To illustrate the popularity of the Ford F150 pickup truck consider this: Last year Ford sold 780,000 F150 derivatives in the U.S. That's a lot of trucks. The F150 was so popular it even out sold the most popular car, the Ford Taurus.

Each time the carmakers launch a new, bigger 4WD, demand soars. Explorer begat the bigger Expedition, a monster wagon designed to take on the might of GMC's Yukon and Chevy's Tahoe models. The Yukon/Tahoe begat Suburban, the full-size truck's even bigger brother.

The Suburban is so big it makes even the outlandishly large 18 foot sedans and coupes from the 1960s seem insignificant. It swallows nine passengers and still has enough space for their luggage. You practically need to hire a cab to get from the driver's door to the rear.

Where will it end?

Well with hungry V8 engines to feed and consumption little better than 20 liters per 100 kilometers, the 4WD craze could be killed off by the next fuel crisis.

Till then, just keep on truckin'.