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福特推出新款房车蹭热度,但可能已经晚了

Chloe Berger
2022-11-08

人们要逐渐回办公室工作,房车潮流正在消退。

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福特推出了2023款Transit Trail,专门为#vanlife热潮设计的房车。图片来源:COURTESY OF FORD

露营和房车旅行:对一些人来说已经成为了生活方式。

为了响应流行的#vanlife运动,福特(Ford)推出了一款加强型房车,名叫2023款Transit Trail。这款车是福特的Transit货车的升级版,车内空间更大,轮胎更耐用,还配备了更强大的驾驶辅助技术以及可旋转座椅。

虽然这款车没有厨房和其他实际在房车中生活的必需品,但改款后更为耐用,改成移动小屋也更方便。举个例子,这款车的车底离地面很高,更容易在越野道路上行驶。2023款Transit Trail的标价为65,975美元,如果选配管道和地毯等,从长远来看价格就会更高。但这意味着开了个头,正式认可从新冠疫情初期逐渐壮大的#vanlife运动。

随着远程办公越发流行,一些员工决定充分利用自由,尝试更多另类生活方式。有些人搬到另一个国家,有些人缩小住家规模,还有人尝试房车生活,总之人们都在工作和生活的地方发挥更多创造力,寻找乐趣,也能够降低生活成本。

其实在21世纪10年代,房车生活方式就已经流行,新冠疫情爆发后迅速深入人心。2020年,Ready Set Van March的创始人本杰明·弗雷泽告诉《纽约时报》(New York Times),每天收到的房车需求都有20份左右。2020年,美国梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz U.S.)的销量整体下滑,货车购买量却增长了22.5%。福特的一位发言人告诉《财富》杂志,去年福特露营车销量也增长了30%。

但在过去一年里,该趋势已经开始退潮,随着新冠疫情限制的解除和油价的飙升,房车销量逐渐走低。虽然趋势较慢但十分肯定的是,人们要逐渐回办公室工作,每周至少一次,房车生活难度加大,或者混合日程安排下根本无法维持。

在社交媒体上的房车生活流行的同时,一些人透露房车生活跟听起来或看起来的并不一样。娜塔莎·斯科特对《财富》杂志表示,尝试房车生活方式耗尽了她的积蓄,由于拼命改装房车最后还无家可归。“房车生活比视频里看起来艰难得多。”斯科特说。“老实说,比我想象中要难。”

尽管对一些人来说,房车生活方式的光芒已经褪去,但对很多其他数字时代流浪者吸引力还是很强,连福特都要推出配备挡泥板和坚固保险杠、适于越野探险的新款车型,以迎合这一小众潮流。

“根据观察到的数据,市场会供不应求。”福特Pro的首席执行官特德·坎尼斯对美国消费者新闻与商业频道(CNBC)表示。(财富中文网)

译者:夏林

露营和房车旅行:对一些人来说已经成为了生活方式。

为了响应流行的#vanlife运动,福特(Ford)推出了一款加强型房车,名叫2023款Transit Trail。这款车是福特的Transit货车的升级版,车内空间更大,轮胎更耐用,还配备了更强大的驾驶辅助技术以及可旋转座椅。

虽然这款车没有厨房和其他实际在房车中生活的必需品,但改款后更为耐用,改成移动小屋也更方便。举个例子,这款车的车底离地面很高,更容易在越野道路上行驶。2023款Transit Trail的标价为65,975美元,如果选配管道和地毯等,从长远来看价格就会更高。但这意味着开了个头,正式认可从新冠疫情初期逐渐壮大的#vanlife运动。

随着远程办公越发流行,一些员工决定充分利用自由,尝试更多另类生活方式。有些人搬到另一个国家,有些人缩小住家规模,还有人尝试房车生活,总之人们都在工作和生活的地方发挥更多创造力,寻找乐趣,也能够降低生活成本。

其实在21世纪10年代,房车生活方式就已经流行,新冠疫情爆发后迅速深入人心。2020年,Ready Set Van March的创始人本杰明·弗雷泽告诉《纽约时报》(New York Times),每天收到的房车需求都有20份左右。2020年,美国梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz U.S.)的销量整体下滑,货车购买量却增长了22.5%。福特的一位发言人告诉《财富》杂志,去年福特露营车销量也增长了30%。

但在过去一年里,该趋势已经开始退潮,随着新冠疫情限制的解除和油价的飙升,房车销量逐渐走低。虽然趋势较慢但十分肯定的是,人们要逐渐回办公室工作,每周至少一次,房车生活难度加大,或者混合日程安排下根本无法维持。

在社交媒体上的房车生活流行的同时,一些人透露房车生活跟听起来或看起来的并不一样。娜塔莎·斯科特对《财富》杂志表示,尝试房车生活方式耗尽了她的积蓄,由于拼命改装房车最后还无家可归。“房车生活比视频里看起来艰难得多。”斯科特说。“老实说,比我想象中要难。”

尽管对一些人来说,房车生活方式的光芒已经褪去,但对很多其他数字时代流浪者吸引力还是很强,连福特都要推出配备挡泥板和坚固保险杠、适于越野探险的新款车型,以迎合这一小众潮流。

“根据观察到的数据,市场会供不应求。”福特Pro的首席执行官特德·坎尼斯对美国消费者新闻与商业频道(CNBC)表示。(财富中文网)

译者:夏林

Camping and traveling in a van: It’s a lifestyle for some people.

In response to the popular #vanlife movement, Ford has unveiled a souped-up RV. Named the 2023 Transit Trail, the van is an updated version of Ford’s Transit van, equipped with a high roof for storage room, more durable tires, technology that provides greater driver-assistance, and chairs that swivel.

While it’s not fully set up with a kitchen and other necessities for actually living in a van, it’s built with modified features that make it more durable and less difficult to convert into a mobile home. For example, the vehicle is extra high off the ground, making it easier to go off main roads. It comes with a $65,975 price tag, that would end up costing more in the long run if one chooses to add things like plumbing and carpeting. But it’s certainly a head start, an acknowledgement of the #vanlife movement that grew during the early stages of the pandemic.

As remote work became more popular, some workers decided to take advantage of their freedom and try out more alternative lifestyles. Whether it was moving to another country, downsizing to a small home, or taking a stab at van life, people got more creative with where they worked and lived, searching for fun and a lower cost of living.

Nomadic lifestyles were already popular in the 2010s, booming once the pandemic hit. Founder of Ready Set Van March, Benjamin Fraser, told the New York Times in 2020 that he was receiving about 20 requests for vans every day. Purchases of vans for Mercedes-Benz U.S. went up by 22.5% in 2020, while overall purchases at the luxury brand fell in general. Ford, too, has seen a 30% increase in camper van sales over the last year, a Ford spokesperson told Fortune.

But the trend started to ebb this past year, with RV sales going down as COVID restrictions lifted and gas prices surged. Slowly but surely, people are returning to the office, at least once a week, making van life more difficult or simply untenable under a hybrid schedule.

As the movement takes over social media, some have revealed that van life isn’t exactly what it sounds or looks like. Natasha Scott told Fortune that trying out the lifestyle depleted her savings and left her without a home as she struggled to convert her van. “Van life is harder than what it seems like in videos,” Scott said. “It’s harder than I would have ever thought, honestly.”

Even though the lifestyle’s gleam has faded for some, it’s still appealing to many other digital nomads—enough so that Ford is tapping into the niche trend with its new van, equipped with mud flaps and a sturdy bumper for off-road adventures.

“We will have more demand than supply, based on all the numbers we see,” Ted Cannis, CEO of Ford Pro, told CNBC.

财富中文网所刊载内容之知识产权为财富媒体知识产权有限公司及/或相关权利人专属所有或持有。未经许可,禁止进行转载、摘编、复制及建立镜像等任何使用。
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