China's Yuppies Welcome Loosening of Pickup Ban
- Provinces easing limits on urban truck access boosts demand
- Ford seeks to inspire ‘new generation of off-road enthusiasts’
A woman walks past pickup trucks parked outside a luxury import car dealership in Beijing. Pickup trucks are being allowed in select urban areas for the first time as the government seeks to revitalize the auto industry.
Photographer: Mark Schiefelbein/AP PhotoThis article is for subscribers only.
China’s aspiring urban cowboys are finally getting their moment.
Pickup trucks, long relegated to workhorses for the country’s farmers, are being allowed in select urban areas for the first time. So far, the plan to energize one of the last untapped segments in the biggest auto market is catching on. Truck sales climbed 36 percent in June from a year earlier even as sedan deliveries declined.