Power and performance - 1992 trucks

Nation's Business, Oct, 1991 by Julie Candler

There's a powerful story in the 1992 truck lineup. Many light, medium, and heavy trucks are sporting more muscle under their hoods. At the same time, prices have risen about 4 percent for the new model year.

Gertrude McWilliams, editor of Concerning Cars and Trucks, a publication covering legislation and regulation, says, "In spite of lower manufacturing costs, prices are way up, in part due to buyer preferences, in part to inflation, and a good deal due to the costs of legislated requirements."

The biggest gains in power and torque are found in full-size pickups and vans, mediums, and heavies. Their added clout stems from federal regulations covering diesel tailpipe emissions, which took effect this past January.

To meet the new standards, most manufacturers have added turbocharging and intercooling. The turbocharging compresses incoming air, thus generating excessive heat as well as energy. Intercoolers, like heat exchangers, reduce the heat of the compressed air. The changes minimize pollutants by making engines more efficient. They also improve horsepower and fuel economy, but their engineering costs mean higher prices.

What's more, the tabs probably will keep climbing because of still more federal safety, emissions, and fuel-economy regulations ahead for all trucks.

Manufacturers of heavy-duty diesels probably will install particulate traps or catalytic converters to meet tougher particulate-emission levels set for 1994. The cost, according to Douglas Slack, a senior vice president of Miami-based Ryder Truck Rental, could range from $2,500 to $8,000 per engine.

In addition to increases in prices and power, other trends have been developing in the truck market. Among them:

* There is growing buyer interest in high-technology engineering to increase driver comfort, reduce gear shifting, improve communications systems, and reduce vehicle down time.

* Safety-minded truck buyers are leaning toward vehicles with electronically controlled anti-lock braking systems.

* Competition in the light-truck market is expected to increase. John Rock, General Motors' vice president for customer sales and service and former chairman of the GMC Truck Division, predicts that both Nissan and Toyota eventually will market full-size pickup trucks in the United States.

* A federal standard requiring stiffer side-door crash protection for light trucks after September 1993 will increase costs an estimated $50 to $70. A roof-crush standard and mandated center-mounted stoplight also will escalate prices.

* Light trucks will be required within a few years to meet the same federal safety standards established for passenger vehicles, according to Jerry R. Curry, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

* The 1990 Clean Air Act will force most light trucks to reduce certain emissions by the same percentages established for automobiles.

* Fuel-economy standards for light trucks will grow tougher, increasing to a minimum of 20.4 miles per gallon for the 1993 model year and 20.5 mpg for 1994.

One of the most notable trends among trucks of all weight classes is the surge in interest in medium-duty trucks. Medium-duties have been boosted by the increase in regional hub-and-spoke distribution, by diesel-engine improvements that enable smaller trucks to handle bigger loads, and by some firms' desire to sidestep the more cumbersome and costly licensing requirements for drivers of the heaviest trucks--those in gross vehicle weight (GVW) Classes 7 and 8, which weigh 27,000 pounds or more.

Some of the demand for medium-duty trucks, say Douglas Slack of Ryder, is a result of recession-induced inventory reductions. Slack quotes a supplier to the auto industry: "Every time a manufacturer picks up production on a line, it creates a lot of transportation. That's because no one is carrying the inventory. Everybody has to move freight quickly."

Now, however, there's one less medium-duty truck manufacturer doing business in America. Iveco SpA, of Torino, Italy, announced last fall that in mid-1991 it would end its U.S. operation after 13 years. Iveco helped to popularize medium-duty, low-cab-forward trucks, which position the driver over and ahead of the front axle. The trend toward that configuration continues because buyers like the better forward visibility it provides and the ease with which it lets the driver enter and leave the truck.

Following are many of the trucks available in the U.S. market, according to weight class and manufacturer:

The Latest in Light Trucks

New light-truck offerings for Class 1 (up to 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight), Class 2 (6,001 to 10,000 pounds GVW), and Class 3 (10,001 to 14,000 pounds) include the following:

AM General. The four-wheel-drive HUMMER proved it could conquer 60-percent grades and meet other challenges during the Persian Gulf War. Now its manufacturer offers a commercial HUMMER for construction companies and other firms needing vehicles that can go anywhere. Officially known as the High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, the $40,000-plus HUMMER comes in three versions: a four-door hardtop pickup, a two-door hardtop pickup, and an open-top pickup. The HUMMER will be distributed initially through AM General of South Bend, Ind., with deliveries starting next June. For information, call 1-800-348-6833.