© 2024 Milwaukee Public Media is a service of UW-Milwaukee's College of Letters & Science
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Modern Trucks: More for Show and Less For Utility

Bill Pugliano
/
Getty Images

Long gone are the days of compact pickup trucks where the fanciest gadget you may have inside the cab is a radio. Today, pickup trucks are the top 3 selling vehicles in the North American market. But even as their sales numbers have risen, they’re used less and less for work and more as a luxury family vehicle.

New trucks are able to seat up to six adults, have a multitude of gadgets, and can easily cost up to $50,000.

"The have sunroofs now, some have massaging seats… everything is being upgraded to a luxury level that we never even dreamed of in cars. Now it’s in trucks and cars," says auto contributor Mark Savage.

As Savage and former Lake Effect producer Dan Harmon discuss the modern pickup truck, Savage points out that although trucks, much like SUV’s, are not that fuel efficient, a lot of consumers don’t mind:

Mark Savage writes the auto review column, Savage on Wheels, and is the editor of American Snowmobiler magazine.

Dan Harmon was one of the original members of Lake Effect (formerly At Ten). He started at WUWM in November of 1998 and left December of 2015 after 17 years of production.
Mark Savage writes the auto review column, Savage On Wheels, for WUWM (formerly for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) and Savageonwheels.com. He is the former executive editor of American Snowmobiler magazine and FineScale Modeler magazine, both part of Kalmbach Media in Waukesha.