Truck builders looking back to the future

“The buyer doesn’t tow as heavy as we thought,” acknowledged Eddie Okubo, manager of Honda product planning for trucks. “With the Ridgeline we were late to the party, so we added a lot of features,” he said. “It made the truck heavier and pricier.”

Toyota has shown a concept truck called the A-BAT at recent auto shows. It’s a true compact, unit-body vehicle that returns to the proportions and efficiency of the old compact trucks, while adding some flexible features that let the customer expand the bed into the cab to occasionally haul larger objects.

Landscapers, gardeners and people who haul active outdoor equipment like bikes, personal watercraft and motorcycles are all suitable buyers for a smaller, more fuel-efficient truck, said Tom Rocchio, manager of advanced product strategy for Toyota. Those buyers have purchased full-size trucks until now because there was effectively no penalty to doing so.

Full-size trucks cost very little more than smaller ones, and until recently the fuel was so cheap that the difference in fuel economy was irrelevant.

“Something along the lines of the A-BAT will have a better chance of success [today] than five years ago,” Rocchio said.

Small trucks are more likely to snare such buyers than slimmed-down, full-size models, predicted Dodge’s Accavitti. Dodge hasn’t seen a lot of interest in its slightly smaller Dakota even as gas price have risen, so he said that he thinks the opportunity lies further down market.

“I can see a market opportunity emerging for an ultra-light-duty pickup truck,” he said.

An obstacle to the adoption of smaller trucks is the U.S. government. If the new corporate average fuel economy standards — which mandate each automobile manufacturer’s fleet of vehicles average a certain fuel economy level — are written so that vehicles’ efficiency is compared against their physical dimensions, compact pickups will be at a handicap when trying to achieve the prescribed numbers, pointed out Hall.

“In that case, you would be out of your mind to do a small pickup,” he said.

Another challenge for designers of smaller trucks will be to ensure safety. A recent announcement by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that currently available small trucks fared poorly in its crash testing highlights this as an area where consumers will likely demand improvement.

So perhaps the fate of the compact pickup segment lies in the hands of federal regulators who will decide whether the tiny trucks are “all dead,” or just “mostly dead.”

Also in msnbc.com business Your Career: Married to the job, and each other Answer Desk: Qualifying for more jobless benefits Venza sorta-crossover is Toyota’s latest mistake ConsumerMan: Chinese drywall remains a big threat   Video: This beer would cost you at least $8,000

MORE FROM AUTOS

Autos Section Front

Ford: New police cruiser to replace Crown Vic Automakers turn to safety to sell cars Texan drives $1 million car into marshes GM needs new Buick, Chevy entries to be hits IntelliDrive program blends technology, safety Chinese automaker aims to compete globally CEO lays out ambitious Chrysler road map Cars are approaching ‘auto’ pilot mode Review: Toyota Venza falls short What automakers have in store for 2010 Autos Section Front   Add Autos headlines to your news reader: