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Comment by Analemma_ | Hacker News Reader

> Ford's leaders seem to be way out of touch with working class folks

To be honest, I think you're the one who is out of touch. The vast majority of pickup trucks sold in the United States are luxury vehicles bought for the purpose of conspicuous consumption, and haul goods only incidentally. Ford knows this and markets/prices the F-150 accordingly.

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Correct. Most F-150s are toys. My family were die hard, dyed in the wool union Ford guys, but they finally, begrudgingly, had to switch to Toyota in the 2000s because they 1) couldn't afford Ford trucks (even bare bones ones) 2) were clearly designed for weekend toy pursuits and not real work (everything switched to electric actuation and control panels, carpeted interiors) 3) were too tall for even a tall man to reach in and grab something out of the bed from the side and 4) had a lower ground clearance than the older trucks even though they sat up higher.

> had a lower ground clearance than the older trucks even though they sat up higher

Honest question… do we know how?… (I believe it, FWIW)

Older trucks exist. You can actually drive them. And it's summer, people are out driving their classics and taking them to shows. Most of those folks try to keep everything original.

Ground clearance is limited by your drive train while ride height can be as tall as you want it.

Portal axle like on the Mercedes G550 4x4 squared.

I seem to recall it had some parts of the transmission that hung down low and part of the..braking? system that was also very low. Everyone was very upset about it at the time.

Taller panels on the side of the tub combined with lower hanging side steps, wheel wells and transmission components.

Next time you're out, count how may pickup trucks you see hauling things vs ones that clearly have never hauled anything bigger than a set of golf clubs, which would actually be put in the back seat of quad cab because you don't want them rolling around.

Especially the Lightning, whose range gets decimated the minute you haul any serious payload with it

This has zero to do with what people want to buy. If people actually thought the way you seem to think they do, they'd have switched out for a small efficient gas mileage vehicle long ago. No one buying a truck cares that it's only for occasional haul use. They want that option to be there when they do use it.

You're welcome to go explain to an average F-150 buyer why they shouldn't get to have what they want, or what they paid for with their hard earned money. I'm sure you telling them they only haul stuff occasionally will totally change their minds.

You're reading a lot of stuff into my comment that I did not say, and getting furious at a strawman of my beliefs.

I'm not reading into anything. This is a discussion about people buying stuff and Ford cutting the price because no one wants it.

You disagreeing with them buying a certain vehicle because you subjectively don't think they need it, isn't relevant to the discussion at all.

Would you like to explain why your subjective take on disliking F-150's or trucks in general has anything to do with whether the Lightning is a competitive product? What does this have to do with the average truck buyer wanting a truck?

You responded to a comment telling someone else they were out of touch with what people wanted. You response to this individual was that YOU personally don't like trucks and don't think people need them. How is this representative of the truck buying market?

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