US truck owners would give up phones, alcohol and sex before their rigs

In anticipation of the covers coming off an all-new Ford F-150 pick-up truck this week, Ford has prepared a fact sheet that details the American public who buys utes – and it’s amazing what they'll give up for their trucks.

Ford commissioned research consultant Penn Schoen Berland to complete a survey that polled 2000 truck owners to find out what makes them tick.

5

Ordinarily, when car manufacturers gather market intelligence they tend to keep it to themselves in order to aid the development of the next model, but thankfully Ford’s given us an insight into just how crazy-loyal truck fans are.

If you thought Australia’s obsession with the dual-cab ute had no bounds, you should just hear what the Americans would give up before parting with their ute.

5

Four in five respondents declared that they would rather stop drinking alcohol for a year than give up the pick-up truck, almost half of the respondents said they would stop using a mobile phone for a year and amazingly, 38 percent of them would give up sex for a year.

Now, it is true that we love our utes Down Under but that’s a level of dedication that we doubt Aussies could match.

5

Alarmingly, some respondents connection to their ute gets even more personal.

A quarter of those polled said they have a name for their truck, while some 15 percent said they have a tattoo related to a truck somewhere on their body.

Truck owners see themselves as ‘dependable’, ‘accomplished’, ‘self-reliant’ and ‘proud’, and as much as 94 percent said they used their truck to help others at least once, while a third say they help people using their trucks at least once a week.

Unsurprisingly, looking forward only a 40 percent minority of owners is excited at the prospect of an electric ute, with Californian owners being the most receptive to the idea.

5

Truck love is fairly universal across the United States, with the respondents being made up of 54 percent men vs 46 percent women, a fairly equal representation across age ranges and 38 percent of them were Ford truck owners.

The Ford F-150 has been America’s best-selling truck for nearly half a century and Ford intends to keep that accolade with the incoming 2021 Ford F-150.

We're curious how close Aussies are with their utes, so go ahead and tick an option box above to see where our love lies with the humble dual-cab ute.