Pickup Trucks (Page 66)

GM's fuel economy announcement makes it official. The Toyota Tacoma has fallen behind in the compact truck market's new battleground.

The Detroit Rouge plant is currently being prepared to build the 2015 Ford F150 so the cutting edge, next generation version of the bestselling vehicle in America is right around the corner – but some consumers could be waiting until 2015 before they get their hands on their new F150.

The arrival of the 2015 Ford F150 is right around the corner and while the Motor Company will offer five trimlines plus the FX4 Off Road package, there has been no word on the future of the sporty Tremor package – which is a shame considering the many upsides to the small, powerful F150.

The introduction of any new generation of a popular vehicle is likely to come with a price hike so we knew that the 2015 Ford F150 would be sporting some sort of increase in pricing, but with the first pieces of the pricing puzzle announced, the new F150 lineup has gotten more expensive from top to bottom - with the most expensive models seeing the biggest increases.

A Toyota Tacoma owner walks us through the experience and explains why he is still a loyal Toyota fan, and why his truck is now better than ever.

The 2015 Tundra is riding a long, tall wave of sales unit increases. Toyota looks to keep the TRD Pro Series off-road version attractive to buyers with these prices.

This past Saturday, the very last 2014 Ford F150 pickup rolled off of the assembly line at the Dearborn Truck Plant and with production halted, the crews responsible for preparing the plant to build the new aluminum bodied 2015 F150 scramble to get the line back in action as quickly as possible.

The 2015 Ford F350 Super Duty was expected to be the most powerful truck in the segment, but the 2015 Ram 3500 has gotten a bump in torque for the new model year that bests the Ford by just a touch and the Chevy Silverado by a ton – while the Ram continues to be the most capable one ton truck in America in terms of payload and towing as well.

In the past, popular compact trucks were left to die in order to allow full-size trucks to thrive. Is this Toyota's plan?

Over the past few years, General Motors has failed to offer a proper luxury model Silverado, but the 2014 Silverado 1500 High Country solves that problem in a very big way – offering comparable comforts to the likes of the Ford F150 King Ranch and the Toyota Tundra 1794 Edition

The 2015 Ford F150 will almost assuredly be the most efficient half ton F Series ever, but if the Motor Company wants to challenge the super efficient Ram 1500 with EcoDiesel engine and the 8-speed automatic, Ford will need to do more – and that “more” could come in the form of a 10-speed automatic transmission developed with help from General motors.

We have previously looked at the King Ranch, Platinum and FX4 packages for the 2015 Ford F150 and as we continue our in-depth looks at the next generation half ton pickup, we move onto the 2015 F150 Lariat – a model which will help the F Series continue to be the bestselling vehicle in America.

In our review of the 2014 Tundra Double Cab we do the usual things, but also enlist the help of a mechanical engineer, homebuilder, father, and lifelong Ford F-150 owner.

The 2015 Ford F150 will come in five different trimlines at launch and while the pinnacle of half ton luxury comes with the Platinum package, those folks who want a luxurious F150 with more customization options can opt for the 2015 King Ranch package – which comes with a set of appearance packages that change the look of the exterior.

As part of the recently released 2015 Ford F150 Appearance Guide, the Motor Company offered up a couple pictures and a list of standard features for the top of the line Platinum model – giving us our first in-depth look at the premium luxury version of the new F150.

Ford Motor Company is making a big push to allow as much customization as possible with the 2015 F150 with a collection of trimlines and a handful of unique equipment packages, but the biggest level of customization will come in the way of colors and wheel choices – with 13 exterior shades and 14 different wheel designs available for the 2015 model year.

As we approach the launch of the all new aluminum 2015 Ford F-150, experts go on-record predicting the fuel economy numbers the new truck can achieve with the new 2.7-liter EcoBoost. The news is not good for the Tacoma and Frontier.

In just a few months, Nissan will unveil an all-new Titan at the 2015 North America International Auto Show in Detroit, MI. Now lead by former Ram truck chief, Nissan is poised to make big waves with a new Titan.

The recently released 2015 Ford F150 Appearance Guide revealed that the FX4 Off-Road package will return for the next generation F150, but the new FX4 will be marketed in a new way with a bigger emphasis on off-road performance for every 2015 model sold.

Reports flooded the internet this morning that a next generation Ford F Series Super Duty pickup prototype test truck had caught fire and literally burned to the ground – and that the result of the towering inferno was melting action that suggest that the Super Duty will use similar aluminum panels to those used on the 2015 F150.

The 2015 Tacoma TRD Pro Series offers a lot of content and capability for the dollar.

If you have been patiently waiting to purchase a 2015 Ford F150, you should head to your friendly neighborhood Ford dealer today as the order banks for the next generation F150 are officially open – even though the full details and pricing on the 2015 models haven’t been announced yet.

Earlier this week, Ford Motor Company rolled out the first official numbers for the new 2.7L EcoBoost V6 and we were so busy focusing on that new twin turbo mill that we breezed right past the specs for the new base model 3.5L V6 – an engine that is the most capable among half ton entry level pickups.

Critics love the 2015 Tacoma TRD Pro Series truck. What Tacoma brings that the Tundra TRD and The 4Runner TRD don’t is affordability.

Even though half ton trucks are valued more for their capabilities than their fuel economy, the 2015 Ford F150 may be forced to adapt an 8-speed transmission to keep pace with the competition from both General Motors and the Chrysler Group’s Ram brand.

Ford announced back in January that the company would introduce a new 2.7L EcoBoost V6 for the 2015 F150 which caused many skeptics to question whether it would be “enough motor” for the bestselling truck in America, but with the formal announcement of the power figures for the next generation F150 – those skeptics will need to find a new point to critique.

Toyota is losing share to Nissan already. Can it do anything to stop that considering that a new 2015 Chevy Colorado and a new 2016 Nissan Frontier are coming?

Which future engine would make more sense in a small truck for the US market? A Toyota Tacoma Diesel would have decent torque. A Tacoma Hybrid would have tremendous fuel economy advantages. Is there a wrong answer?

The Ford F150 and the rest of the F Series lineup have been selling in incredible numbers over the past 18 months, but as the arrival of the all new 2015 F150 draws near, sales of the current F150 have slowed as consumers are likely waiting for the launch of the next generation Ford pickup – either to buy that new model or to try to score a deal on a current model.

As all of the automakers work to come up with the most fuel efficient vehicles possible, the 2015 Ford F150 could call upon the new 2.3L EcoBoost 4-cylinder that will power the 2015 Ford Mustang to create a Super Fuel Economy model that would offer far less trucking capabilities and far better fuel economy – essentially battling the fuel economy of the midsized truck market with an F150.