Ford, Chrysler, and GM are adding more luxury touches to their high-end pickups in response to growing demand. Buyers of high-end trucks are generally more wealthy and credit-worthy. In 2011, 13% of pickups cost more than $40,000, and the market is expected to only get better as buyers load up their trucks with options and extras.
Using a variety of sources and criteria, Forbes searched through data on 2012 pickup trucks to determine which are the year's toughest. Models making the list include the Honda Ridgeline, consistently rated high for reliability and durability, Toyota Tundra with its payload, towing capacity, and interior space, and Ford F-150 with the strongest frame and wider choice of engines.
President Obama says he is committed to making natural gas a positive alternative to gasoline and diesel fuel to power the nation's long-haul trucking fleet. Subsidies and tax breaks would hasten the creation of a network of natural gas filling stations. Energy companies have reduced natural gas drilling to remove excess supply from the market, but converting the U.S. trucking fleet would benefit many companies if natural gas prices recovered.
The NHTSA has completed pilot studies and will decide next year whether to issue new regulations that govern vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology in its pursuit to reduce traffic fatalities. A spokesman for the agency said connected vehicle technology can reduce up to 80% of crash scenarios. IIHS president Adrian Lund said it will take decades for the majority of vehicles on the road to have the technologies.
Ford announced plans to introduce EcoBoost engines in its redesigned 2013 Escape, Fusion, Focus, and Interceptor (used by law-enforcement agencies,) tripling the production capacity of EcoBoost-equipped vehicles to more than 383,000 vehicles in 2012. Already popular on some Ford models, the 3.5 liter V6 EcoBoost accounts for 42% of the engine mix on the F-150. Last year Ford built 127,883 vehicles with an EcoBoost engine in North America.