OP
With F350s hitting $100k, does it need to be cheap? I'm thinking something that would be a valuable tool that you can ride to the job site, not just a ride to work and park it all day type of truck.
I'm also thinking about the projects I've done recently. When it's time to haul away some broken concrete or a load of dirt, even in a residential project, you need a dump truck or a 10 yard roll off dumpster. So that's $500 every time you put a load in the back of this truck instead of paying to get a project dumpster. Then, whatever accessory tools you could power with this truck would give you more versatility than a traditional 1 ton but in a size package that is nimble. Maybe a hybrid setup could power air compressors or tools with battery ala the fantasy of the ev truck world.
If we're in agreement that road vehicles need to be hybrid or ev, maybe there's a bigger opportunity there than just in diesel. Maybe not everybody knows this but tesla makes all of their profit from selling regulatory credits to other automakers who fail to meet ev quotas in states like California.
Kubota came to mind because they aren't a company that typically just buys something and slaps their logo on it to enter a market segment (though they do with attachments). They're the company that knows how to build from the ground up. Their entry into the skid steer market has been very impressive and with that comes trust from a whole new client base.
