Leon wrote:
....
That is not entirely ture. ...

But it is...it'll take tens of years before a slight outselling of the
Big 3 (and I still don't think they're outselling them in full-size
truck market--they simply don't have the model numbers available to do
so) will even come close to catching up to the volume on the road.

The dynamics aren't the same as for the automobile end at all.

As for the smaller market dynamics (which I am in, thankfully), there's
a little bit of truth there, but there has been a Toyota dealer as well
for quite a lot of time (as noted, it's also the Chevy dealership).

The fact is, the demand here for work trucks is for hard-working work
trucks (which is what I've focused on as that seemed to be the area of
interest I thought until the sidelight of the SUV came up) and the lower
payload, no better or worse mileage ratings and particularly the
no-diesel option really limits the "likeability" of the Tundra for that
market. They sell a decent number all pimped out for the hunters and
the in-town folks who want a car that can carry something, but that's a
different market. I still expect that that's the major market in
Houston you're seeing as well--most of them will be traded in and still
not have a scratch in the bed.

On the reliability of the Big 3, it's much like much of the other
reporting these days. There was a period of some serious problems and
that has now become legend and is reported as though nothing has changed
since the mid-70s. The difficulty of regaining a lost reputation is
legend in any arena and is no different for the automakers than an
individual. They're just not getting any favors and imo much undeserved
bad press and continued bashing from general folks who just do so
because it's "the in thing" rather than real knowledge/experience.

You have experience, but even much of your anecdotes are somewhat dated
and not directly reflective of current state of affairs.

The Chevy shop here is generally half empty these days--there just
aren't enough vehicles to repair, warranty or otherwise. I have a
Chrysler 300 as well as the GM products and the Chrysler/Dodge dealer is
probably the largest in town (owing in large part to the popularity of
the Ram) and yet it's not difficult to get in to their service area,
either, even though they've not added personnel for years and their
sales have mushroomed.

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