Truck demand stirs deep in the heart of Texas

DESOTO, Texas (Reuters) - Deep in the heart of Texas, a Chevy dealership is almost empty of super-sized trucks and full of promise for the battered U.S. auto industry.
"Two months ago I had 80 of these, and now I only have a handful," dealer Butch Watson said as he pointed to a few extended cab Silverado pickup trucks hulking in one corner of his lot near Dallas.
They say everything is bigger in Texas and pickup trucks are no exception.
Not only do they bulk up here -- there are heftier "Texas editions" of some models such as the Chevrolet Silverado built by General Motors Co -- but the state is also the world's largest and richest single market for pickup trucks.
So analysts are scanning Texas for the first glimmer of recovery in truck sales that would give a much needed lift to U.S. automakers laid low by the global recession and last year's historically high gas prices.
"Our pick-up sales are up 18 percent in the first eight months of this year," said Watson, whose Chuck Fairbanks Chevrolet is one of the largest dealerships in north Texas.
Many of his sales for larger models such as one-ton trucks are to horse and cattle ranchers, Watson said.
Erich Merkle, an industry consultant at Autoconomy.com, said evidence from dealers and automakers points to the start of a recovery in both the economy and the truck market.
"The volume and where the recovery is going to come is in pickup trucks." Merkle said. "Pickup trucks are not dead. They are far from dead in this country."
Ford Motor Co, the longtime leader in pickup trucks, also has seen tentative signs that the worst is over. The automaker reported a monthly sales increase for its F-Series pickup trucks in August, the first in nearly three years.
Since pickup trucks are the staple vehicle in the U.S. construction industry, many analysts tie a rebound in sales to an uptick in spending on housing and infrastructure.
Toyota Motor Corp is bolstering pickup production due to signs of a strengthening in the housing sector. Sales of its Tundra model reached a 2009 peak in August but remain down 53 percent on the year.
WHAT'S GOOD FOR DALLAS IS GOOD FOR DETROIT
The truck market has been highly profitable for U.S. automakers and it ranks as the last segment that the battered Detroit companies dominate.
"I think it's critical for the turnaround of the Detroit three," Merkle said of a recovery in the pickup truck market.