LOS ANGELES — At this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show size matters.
“We’ve upgraded the Duramax engine in here.”
Take for instance this 2018 GMC Denali DM.
“This is actually real aluminum instead of cheap plastic.”
With an 8-inch touchscreen, WiFi and real leather and wood interiors, it can be your for about $75,000.
“This would be fully loaded, yeah.”
“We’ve got a huge amount of customers coming to us in this very high end range now,” explained GMC’s Jennie Ecclestone. “They want all the bells and whistles. They wanna know they have that capability, but they wanna look good doing it too.”
Even as more automakers turn to electric and hybrid vehicles, America’s love for trucks remains strong — fueled in part by low gas prices.
Sales of Ford’s best selling F-Series pickups are up this year by nearly 11 percent and the company recently unveiled its F-450 Super Duty which can top $100,000 after taxes and fees.
“I don’t think we’re hitting a ceiling yet.”
Motor Trend Editor-in-Chief Ed Loh said automakers are now competing to meet a high demand for oversized luxury trucks and their customers aren’t just traditional truck buyers.
“It’s also the guy that wants to show off because the trucks are big, covered in chrome, full of leather and nowadays have some really advanced technology inside.”
Loh said as more automakers look to cash in on the truck market consumers can expect some companies to drive prices up even higher.
