Michigan VW Dealer Selling Brodozers

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https://www.autonews.com/best-practices/raised-pickups-help-boost-mich-vw-store

Quote
...Volkswagen is not known as a pickup brand. But LaFontaine Volkswagen of Dearborn is using pickups to attract customers who wouldn't otherwise come into the store. The Michigan store acquires used pickups and outfits them with a lift kit, beefy rims and tires, side steps and sometimes even fender flares. The trucks are then parked out front on the dealership lawn.

Full-size pickups from the Detroit 3 — whether a Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-150, GMC Sierra or Ram 1500 — are the VW store's bread and butter to lift. Luckily for the operation, a hefty volume of big domestic trucks come off lease every month in the Detroit area, giving the store a wide selection to choose from.

Once Vandenbussche buys a truck, it is sent to an outside company for outfitting work. The cost of installing a 6-inch lift kit, 20-inch wheels and tires and side steps runs $4,000 to $5,000 per pickup. It takes up to two weeks for the vehicle to come back ready for sale.

The store tries to keep the trucks in the $32,000-to-$35,000 range, Szabla said.

LaFontaine sells four to five lifted trucks a month, and around 30 new VW vehicles each month, as well as 60 to 65 used vehicles.

"We're in a blue-collar area in Ford's backyard," Mike Law, the store's general manager, said of Dearborn, which is home to Ford Motor Co.'s world headquarters.

"Most of the people looking at buying these vehicles are blue-collar people. So we market it to what they want."
 
And?

Any business is going to try and provide a product or service which customers want. If they are selling these lifted trucks, then obviously there is a market for them.

Capitalism at work.
 
Why can't they take one of these, graft it onto a SWB 4X4 frame? There's your VW brodozer!
crazy.gif

[Linked Image]
 
I think VW is in the process of converting their Atlas model into a pickup sort of like the Ridgeline, at least they have the concept out at shows now.
 
Originally Posted by sloinker
I think VW is in the process of converting their Atlas model into a pickup sort of like the Ridgeline, at least they have the concept out at shows now.
I'd be surprised, the Japanese can't/won't compete with the Americans in the fullsize market.

The people who buy these trucks do not drive VWs. The people who buy VWs don't drive fullsize trucks.

They need to create a truck that can compete with the Nissan Frontier on price alone. They could bring one of their South American models here and I think they could sell it.

Even then, the urban dad truck market (Ridgeline, Tacoma and Frontier) only exists in large North American cities and it's not that big.
 
VW already have a pickup, the Amarok and it sells well outside the USA. You seldom see them pimped out with lift kits, flares etc.

[Linked Image from carsguide-res.cloudinary.com]
 
Bring back the transporter/pick up crew cab & synchros. Or modernized versions.
 
I also see 2 used Dodge Challengers in the background. A few F-250 trucks would also increase buyers to that VW dealer.

Some men love a big truck with glitter & glam.
 
That's pretty common practice, especially for brands that don't have trucks in their new lineup. Every Kia, Hyundai, VW, Honda (Ridgeline is not really brodozer material), etc dealer around here has plenty of Silverados, F-150s, Rams, and usually a Wrangler or two. The Chevy dealer I work at has put lift kits on new and used vehicles, though it's not something we do very often. Usually a general or sales manager will decide they want something big and loud to put out front and have the shop put some brodozer stuff on a truck, Tahoe, or Jeep.
 
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Why can't they take one of these, graft it onto a SWB 4X4 frame? There's your VW brodozer!
crazy.gif

[Linked Image]




Don't you mean bradozer? Wasn't that a chick car back in the day?
 
You guys don't seem to realize that there's tariffs on light trucks that don't apply to SUVs. Which is why Mercedes, BMW, Audi have SUVs but no pickup trucks. And why the imports don't seem to be as good a value than the US models because they have to account for the tariffs which the US models don't. There's been a 25% tariff on light trucks since the 60's.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359
You guys don't seem to realize that there's tariffs on light trucks that don't apply to SUVs. Which is why Mercedes, BMW, Audi have SUVs but no pickup trucks. And why the imports don't seem to be as good a value than the US models because they have to account for the tariffs which the US models don't. There's been a 25% tariff on light trucks since the 60's.
I think it has to do with either emissions, or safety regulations. Why would Toyota and Nissan go out of their way to design trucks just for the NA market where they can't compete with the Americans? They could just import a truck with largest optional gasoline engine with an automatic transmission and worst case scenario foreigners go nuts for the same truck they had in their homelands.

It can't just be the tariffs.
 
Originally Posted by 02SE
And?

Any business is going to try and provide a product or service which customers want. If they are selling these lifted trucks, then obviously there is a market for them.

Capitalism at work.


The previous owners of the Ford dealer here would do that and make a ton of money selling to the rich kids. We just don't want to thanks to liability. Some people like to pay for the convenience of buying a truck with everything done already.
 
We use Hilux overseas but at one time they could not pass the moose test - not sure at this time
 
Originally Posted by 02SE
And?

Any business is going to try and provide a product or service which customers want. If they are selling these lifted trucks, then obviously there is a market for them.

Capitalism at work.


Right after the Houston floods folks came to our small town and bought about 10 lifted trucks - drove them back to their homes. Capitalism right there.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Originally Posted by Wolf359
You guys don't seem to realize that there's tariffs on light trucks that don't apply to SUVs. Which is why Mercedes, BMW, Audi have SUVs but no pickup trucks. And why the imports don't seem to be as good a value than the US models because they have to account for the tariffs which the US models don't. There's been a 25% tariff on light trucks since the 60's.
I think it has to do with either emissions, or safety regulations. Why would Toyota and Nissan go out of their way to design trucks just for the NA market where they can't compete with the Americans? They could just import a truck with largest optional gasoline engine with an automatic transmission and worst case scenario foreigners go nuts for the same truck they had in their homelands.

It can't just be the tariffs.


Nissan and Toyota both make their trucks in the US to avoid the tariffs.
 
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