Pickups are clearly among the hottest selling vehicles in the U.S., where rugged individualism can mean knowing you have the ability to haul your own lumber.
DETROIT, MI – If you want to know how important the truck segment is to automakers selling their wares in the U.S., consider this: In 2014, a majority of all light vehicle sales were trucks.
And the top three vehicles sold in the U.S. last year, of all vehicles, were pickup trucks.
Accordingly, two Japanese automakers debuted key products at the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week, though they face some pretty impressive new products introduced by domestic OEMs as well.
Nissan ushered in its 2016 Titan XD with steam cannons hissing, as the company officially kicked off its bid gain a greater share of the U.S. full-size, light-duty pickup market.
Company President and CEO Carlos Ghosn called the design a "new class," targeting buyers looking for something more affordable than the heavy-duty segment can offer, yet something more powerful than most light-duty offerings.
He added that the company is shooting for a 10 percent market share.
The 2016 Nissan Titan was designed in California, engineered in Michigan and will be assembled in Mississippi. The engine is being built in Indiana and Tennessee.
Toyota revealed its revamped-for-2016 Tacoma mid-size pickup Monday at the 2015 North American International Auto Show on Monday.
The new Tacoma will land in an increasingly competitive midsize pickups segment, in which General Motors' 2015 Chevrolet Colorado is returning after a two-year hiatus. The Colorado was also named Motor Trend's Truck of the Year this week.
The 2016 Tacoma was developed and engineered at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor and designed in Ann Arbor and in Newport Beach, Calif.
The mid-size truck is being built at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas in San Antonio and at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Baja California in Baja California, Mexico.
Meantime, FCA US' Ram brand rolled out the full-size, light-duty Ram Rebel 1500.
The stylish, brawny truck goes on sale at the beginning of the second half of this year. The Ram 1500 is built at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant, while Crew Cab and Regular Cab models of the 2015 Ram 1500 are built at the Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant in Saltillo, Mexico.
Ram also on Tuesday unveiled a new, more fuel-efficient Ram 1500 EcoDiesel HFE that gets a segment-best 29 miles per gallon on the highway. It goes on sale in the first quarter of this year.
Ford Motor Co. made quite a splash, and not just with the GT.
It revealed the F-150 Raptor, a performance-based take on the company's award-winning F-150 made with a steel frame and military-strength aluminum alloy body that Ford says saves about 500 lbs of weight.
Built at the Dearborn Truck plant, the F-150 Raptor will go on sale in 2016.
Sales of all new vehicles in the U.S. grew 6 percent on an annual basis in 2014 to 16.5 million units, but a bulk of the growth came from truck sales, which rose 10 percent to 8.6 million units, while passenger car sales were up just 2 percent to 7.9 million units.
Those truck sales include SUVs, too, but pickups are clearly among the hottest selling vehicles in the U.S., where rugged individualism can mean knowing you have the ability to haul your own lumber.
The top three vehicles sold in the U.S. last year, of all vehicles, were all pickup trucks: the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado and the Ram 1500-3000, in that order.
Ford's F-Series sales were flat in 2014 ads it readied for the launch of the 2015 F-150, but it still was the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for a 33rd year. Sales of the Silverado were up 10 percent and Ram sales increased 24 percent.
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter
2015 Detroit auto show
Going to the auto show? See our guide on hours, tickets, pricing and more.
Not a car person? Here's our Hater's Guide to the Detroit auto show.
Here's an interactive floor map of Cobo Center with links to coverage of every new vehicle unveiled at the show:
