– Honda will unveil a pickup concept Jan. 4 at the Detroit Auto Show as a teaser of a future model. Like the Subaru Baja, it is built on a car-based platform and has four doors and a short, open bed. Honda describes it as a “light-duty” sport-utility truck to separate it from truck-based pickups.
– Dodge has become the first automaker to announce plans to bring a heavy-duty pickup hybrid to market. The Ram HEV will go on sale in fall 2004 as the civilian version of a vehicle DaimlerChrysler developed with the U.S. military known as the COMBATT HEV. Offered in the 2500 and 3500 heavy-duty Ram series, the commercial version will get about 10 percent better fuel economy than a comparable heavy-duty gasoline or diesel pickup.
– Ford’s redesigned F-150 pickup has been named 2004 Truck of the Year by Motor Trend magazine. The new F-150, introduced in September, beat six other new or substantially revised trucks: the Chevrolet Colorado and SSR, Dodge Ram SRT-10, GMC Canyon, Nissan Titan and Toyota Tundra Double Cab. “The new F-150 represents a huge step forward in pickup truck design, styling, refinement and overall performance,” says Motor Trend editor-in-chief Kevin Smith.
– Ford says it will shave about $1,000 in costs from its F-150 by the end of 2004. The 2004 version, Ford’s best-selling vehicle and a driver of its turnaround plan, has faced criticism from analysts for being more expensive to build than previous models.
