Jump to content

Interesting Truck Observations from the middle East


probowler

Recommended Posts

I recently had the opportunity to visit the "Great" nation of Kuwait, and aside from obtaining a new appreciation for American drivers... i noticed some interesting things about the truck market in this strange new land.

 

 

First off: Full-Size trucks are king.

For all the talk i've heard about F-150 being too big for ROW, they're certainly not too big for Kuwait. Full-Size trucks of all makes roamt the streets here.

 

Second: Trucks are a status symbol.

While not flully "Bro-d out" like you see in America, you can definitely tell by the condition, the mods, and the drivers that these are what real men drive.

 

Third: Single Cab.... is the only cab?

Okay, that's a big exaggeration, but there are a TON of single cab trucks over there! My rough count gathered almost a 50% ratio of single and extended cabs... most being the classic single. There's easily more single cab trucks in Kuwait than America.

 

So is Kuwait the rest of the world? I'm guessing not... but it's interesting to see so many new Ford, Ram, and Chevy fullsize trucks being enjoyed by foreign drivers.... and the mighty single cab.... an extinct dinosaur here, still roams the sandy dunes in a land far away.

 

Makes me wonder if the F-150 could one day be sold world wide?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Middle East is probably the only place besides North America where our fullsize trucks can roam free (well, cheaply).

 

Gas is cheap and roads are wide since everything is basically build from scratch from the 1970s on so they've incorporated the form factors of typical American cities with 10 feet wide lanes on the roads and lots of free fullsize parking lots everywhere.

 

Australia probably is another place where fullsize trucks works well but the market is too small for the Big 3 to really focus on (it being RHD and all, involves too much investments). The GCC Countries (Gulf Cooperation Council - Bahrain, Kuwait, Omen, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE) accepts US FMVSS so any US-spec cars can be sold there without expensive modifications.

Edited by bzcat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Middle East is probably the only place besides North America where our fullsize trucks can roam free (well, cheaply).

 

Gas is cheap and roads are wide since everything is basically build from scratch from the 1970s on so they've incorporated the form factors of typical American cities with 10 feet wide lanes on the roads and lots of free fullsize parking lots everywhere.

 

Australia probably is another place where fullsize trucks works well but the market is too small for the Big 3 to really focus on (it being RHD and all, involves too much investments). The GCC Countries (Gulf Cooperation Council - Bahrain, Kuwait, Omen, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE) accepts US FMVSS so any US-spec cars can be sold there without expensive modifications.

We used to get F250s imported from South America but eventually, they stopped making RHDs when the product cycle

rolled in the 2000s. So sad because Ford Aus was just getting going with establishing sales to miming companies,

those 7.3 Diesels were absolute kings and even now a ten year old second hand truck still commands well over $70K

 

Gasoline prices are a killer for big gas engines in Australia but give us trucks and SUVs with diesels and it's game on.

F250 straight up with 6.7 V8 diesel or maybe F150 with 4.4 V8 diesel to get enough tow capacity.

 

Internationally, F Series with 3.0 V6 diesel, 4.4 V8 diesel and 6.7 V8 diesel could capture a lot more sales.....

Forget Ecoboost, gloabal markets want diesel in their trucks, give them what they want and its money in the bank.

Edited by jpd80
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Toyota and Nissan each sells a few hundred Landcrusier 70 series and Patrol pickups and vans in Australia a year for rough road use so that's the size of the market. With a diesel F-150 with modern safety and creature comforts and RHD, Ford will takeover that market overnight, plus what's left of the Falcon ute market in the cities and suburbs. But that's really a tiny market for Ford to invest in RHD. Toyota and Nissan can do it because they are selling legacy products that doesn't require any new investments.

Edited by bzcat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...