Big Is Better for Detroit, But for How Long?

Ford Motor Co. is rolling out a new ad campaign with the slogan “Built to be a better big.” If nothing else, it evokes the sense of a two-ton truck rolling right over the English language. It also fits with Ford’s direction: Earlier this week, the company announced it was boosting production of SUVs for the second time in two years. Plus, it’s been almost a year since Ford said it was effectively exiting cars, apart from a couple of brands, including the Mustang.

Ford isn’t alone in going all-in on “big.” Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV went that way with its North American business in 2016. General Motors Co. announced in November it was ditching most of its car models as part of a sweeping restructuring. There’s a simple reason for this: Americans prefer bigger vehicles and are willing to pay more for them. On average, they paid about $51,000 for a large truck in February, according to data from Edmunds, and almost $42,400 for a midsize SUV, up 22 percent and 15 percent respectively over the past five years. Midsize sedans, meanwhile, fetched around $26,400, up just 3 percent. The premium for “big” is now the highest it’s been in at least a decade: