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Deep discounts — $12K, $13K, $16K — are fueling a pickup price war

Heavy discounts of up to $16,000 per vehicle are fueling a "truck war" among full-size pickups sold in the United States by the Detroit Three, a Reuters analysis shows. Strong U.S. sales this year of the highly profitable big trucks have helped offset lagging passenger car sales. But it is not clear how much of the truck demand is linked directly to ample factory incentives and dealer discounts, or how far sales might decline without those subsidies. A Reuters survey of Ford, General Motors Co's Chevrolet and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles's Ram truck dealers across the United States indicates stores are offering deep discounts the country's bestselling full-size pickup trucks. "The walls are not crashing down on full-size trucks," said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. Detroit-based automakers want to keep cranking out their high-margin trucks, he added, and "giving up a little of the profit is the cheapest way to do it." Stores are offering discounts of up to $12,000 on the 2018 Ford F-150, which remains the best-selling vehicle in the country, recording more than 80,000 sales in May. Discounts run up to $13,000 on the 2018 Chevrolet Silverado and as high as $16,000 on the Ram 1500. Average transaction prices for full-size pick-ups range from around $42,000 to $45,000, industry analysts and automakers say. All three companies are spending furiously - GM and Fiat Chrysler to help sell off carryover 2018 trucks to prepare for redesigned 2019 models, and Ford to sustain its long-held sales crown. A supplier fire that temporarily shut down production of the F-150 last month "changed the game," said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive in Troy, Michigan said. The supply halt nudged Ford's crosstown rivals "to ratchet up incentives on the current models to go after weakness at Ford," he said. Deals advertised on the companies' official websites range from rebates and low-interest loans to ultra-cheap lease rates, but they are not telling the whole story. Ford, for instance, advertises a $2,000 rebate and a $500 financing credit on sales of certain F-150 models. But James Collins Ford in Louisville, Kentucky, is offering discounts of up to $12,215 on the 2018 F-150 XLT SuperCrew 4x4. The price cuts are even steeper at a number of GM and Fiat Chrysler dealers. Quirk Chevrolet is selling the 2018 Silverado 1500 Double Cab at $13,000 off sticker.

GM will compensate SUV owners for fuel-economy error [UPDATE]

General Motors will offer debit cards to owners of some of its crossover SUVs after it was discovered that GM overstated the vehicles' fuel economy on window stickers, Automotive News says. GM will offer reimbursements to about 135,000 customers that are worth between $450 and $1,500 each. Some owners will also have the option of being provided with an extended warranty free of charge instead of the debit card. GM overstated fuel economy on about 170,000 vehicles by one to two miles per gallon because of what it has said was an inadvertent error stemming from not factoring the impact of emissions-related hardware into the EPA window-sticker figures. As a result, GM put a temporary stop-sale on the Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave before switching out the window stickers on about 60,000 vehicles. Automotive News says letters and debit cards will be sent out next week, and Reuters is estimating that the reimbursement program will cost GM about $100 million. With automakers ranging from Hyundai/Kia to Ford to, more recently, Volkswagen and Mitsubishi being ensnared by emissions or fuel-economy-rating issues, GM is working quickly to address the problem. For those curious, the reimbursement totals, factoring in current gas prices, the SUVs' combined fuel economy, and typical driving of about 12,000 miles a year, will provide between three and 12 months worth of free gas for those drivers (the models get either 17 or 18 miles per gallon combined, depending on front- or four-wheel-drive configuration). While about 135,000 customers will be reimbursed, Automotive News says the fleet buyers of about 35,000 crossovers haven't been addressed yet. UPDATE: GM spokesman James Cain, in an e-mail to Autoblog on Sunday, confirmed that the company will reimburse about 135,000 customers. Purchase customers will be given the option of a pre-paid debit card or a 48-month/60,000-mile protection plan, while lease customers will be offered the pre-paid debit cards. Most of the cards will have a value of between $450 and $900 on them. "We want all of our customers to have a great ownership experience, so we designed this reimbursement program to provide full and fair compensation in a simple, flexible, and timely manner," he wrote.

GM diesel pickups first to undergo extra EPA, CARB testing

The effects of Volkswagen's long-running diesel emissions evasion are starting to spill over to other automakers, but General Motors is taking things in stride. The 2.8-liter, four-cylinder Duramax in the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon is the first engine to get extra scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, Automotive News reports. Rather than just the usual in-lab test, it's also being checked on the road. However, the extra evaluation shouldn't have any impact on when the trucks with his mill hit dealers later this fall. "We're in our final stages of the EPA certification, and our launch is on track," Chevy spokesperson Otie McKinley tells Autoblog. The four-cylinder diesel in the trucks makes 181 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque, and the automaker is touting low NOx production. In the announcement for the Colorado's specs, the company calls it "the cleanest diesel truck engine ever produced by General Motors." The tech includes exhaust gas recirculation to lower combustion temperatures and improve emissions. There's also a urea tank like on the bigger diesels for full-size trucks, and it gets refilled in time with oil changes. An indication on the instrument panel lets drivers know when that's needed, too. Even with the more demanding testing, the company doesn't seem too worried about the four-cylinder passing. "Part of our development process is on-road and off-road [laboratory] testing," Scott Yackley, Chevy Trucks assistant chief engineer, said to Automotive News. In the wake of the VW scandal, the EPA has pledged more rigorous testing. Before, on-road emissions evaluations were largely limited to heavy-duty vehicles, but the agency has decided to apply the checks more often to other models. There's also now greater cooperation with Canadian authorities.