Automakers Shoot for the Hip

A Ford Ranger that's fresh from the factory looks like it might have had a turn in a hot-rod shop. Automakers are seeing the value of reaching further toward a market where "custom" has become standard. (Ford Motor Co.)

The Ford Ranger on a platform at the Washington Auto Show looks like a customizing shop got hold of it, turning a mild-mannered little pickup into a slick street ride with a super-low front grille, chrome running boards and carbon-fiber dashboard inserts.

But this mod-job is straight from the factory. It is the Ranger STX, Ford's effort to make a play for young, urban consumers who watch TV car shows like MTV's "Pimp My Ride" or "Overhaulin' " on The Learning Channel.

The popularity of those over-the-top decorating shows for vehicles has pumped new life into the auto customizing business, as more mainstream consumers decide they want to trick out their car or truck with fancy accessories. The auto parts and accessories industry has doubled in size in a decade, reaching $29 billion in sales last year, according to the Specialty Equipment Market Association, or SEMA.

That's a stream of money too big for the auto industry to ignore, so car manufacturers are beginning to offer options up front that once were available only from the local hot-rod shop. Toyota blazed the way with its youth-oriented brand Scion, which offers such must-have accessories as glowing cup holders and multicolored dash displays.

"What some manufacturers figured out is if they contract with [customizers] or make the products in-house, they can make a lot more money," said Dan Kahn, a road-test editor at Edmunds.com.

While that seems like a predatory business move, small customizing companies actually welcome the trend, according to Peter MacGillivray, vice president of marketing and communications for the California-based SEMA.

"What they're really going to do is plant the seed, plant the notion of personalization and accessorization in so many more places than we ever could," MacGillivray said, adding that big car companies "have the single largest marketing budgets in the world."

"Who better to highlight the fun . . . of tricking out your car than them?"

Ford's new Ranger STX will be unveiled to the public starting Dec. 26 at the week-long Washington Auto Show and will hit showrooms next month in limited numbers. While Ford has offered special racing-style accessories for vehicles such as the Mustang, the Ranger STX is the company's first attempt to jump into the current styling craze, and more such packages are on the way, company spokesman Scott Jensen said.

The basic Ranger is a small pickup that hasn't had a design change in years. As more and more truck buyers gravitate toward larger pickups, the average age of the Ranger customer has crept up to 48, product marketing manager Robert Keller said. Ford saw a chance to make a play for urban drivers -- who prefer smaller trucks for city streets -- and for young people, who want something cheap but eye-catching.

The STX has a base price of $16,020 for the regular-cab model and $19,225 for the four-door SuperCab -- lower than the average retail price of $25,443 for compact trucks overall, according to Edmunds. At the lower price, the Ranger doesn't offer huge performance, with a 3-liter, 6-cylinder engine rated at 148 horsepower. It does offer standard anti-lock brakes, driver and passenger air bags and pre-tensioning safety belts, and while the 2005 Ranger gets high safety marks in government crash tests, it gets a mediocre three stars out of five in rollover tests.

But the Ranger STX is mostly about looks. It features a monochromatic exterior, with bumpers and door handles the same color as the body paint, as well as a black grille and integrated fog lamps.

Ford also offers customizing packages not yet available on the company's other products. For $2,500, for example, the Ranger STX customer can buy a supercharger kit to bolt onto the engine and kick out a few more horsepower. Another $595 will buy a kit that lowers the truck by an impractical but cool-looking 2 to 3 inches.

Faced with new competing trucks from Dodge, Toyota, General Motors and Nissan, Ford had to do something to make the Ranger more exciting, said Kahn, the Edmunds editor. The fact that Ford turned to the customization craze is a sign of things to come, he said.

"Because of these shows on MTV, of all places, and Discovery and The Learning Channel, all of a sudden it's become cool and into the mainstream of pop culture to make cars as crazy-looking as possible," Kahn said.

But, he added, automakers getting in on the action might not sit well with some customers. "Part of the appeal of customizing a car is to make it different from everybody else. That's the fun of it. When you're essentially buying a vehicle that's already modified by the factory, that sort of defeats the purpose."