Ford Messes with Texas Again

The results of the 2009 Texas Truck Rodeo have been released and for the seventh consecutive year the Texas Auto Writers Association has bestowed top honors this time on the Ford F150.

Gas prices ease and truck sales are back in the game

It’s no secret that many of us here at LotPro.com find the idea of the average family riding around in a heavily-optioned, leather-lined, extended cab four-by-four pickup truck to be close to be the ultimate in absurdity. The closest thing most of these “air haulers” will come to off-roading is accidentally jumping a curb and riding over the well-manicured flower bed of the local shopping mall. But with the price of a gallon of gas averaging less than $3.00, many urban cowboys are once again thinking of parking a pickup in front of their own suburban Ponderosas.

What’s more, the domestic automakers desperately need the profits they reap from truck sales to fuel their R&D efforts in what they see as the soon-to-be burgeoning small car segment. And with the Asian automakers re-trenching after a very much less-than-successful assault on the full-size truck segment, the American manufacturers are poised to regain a significant share of the truck market.

Finally, to reiterate what we stated last year, there still are, and will continue to be, legitimate markets for pickups in the U.S., which is also why Ford’s latest award is so important: the biggest market for pick-em-ups in America is Texas.

2009 Truck of Texas

Everybody knows that Texas is big. But few living outside the state can really grasp just how big it really is. If you’re traveling from Beaumont in the east to El Paso in the west, you’ll cover almost 840 miles. That’s further than Salt Lake City to Los Angeles and only 50 miles less than driving from Rome, Italy to Paris, France. And remember, the whole time you’re covering all that prairie; you’re still in the same state!

Texas is also big into oil drilling, oil refining, cattle ranching, farming and construction. Knowing that, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist (although if it did there are plenty of those types to be found at the Johnson Space Center, which is just south of Houston) to see why most pickup owners in Texas are serious about their rides. Texans, in fact, are so big on trucks, that in 1992, the Texas Auto Writers Association™ founded the “Texas Truck Rodeo. ™”

This year, the “Truck Rodeo” was held October 15-18 in San Antonio, Texas with testing at the famous Knibbe Ranch. For three days 41 members of the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA™) drove 44 trucks and SUV’s in a true “working ranch” setting. In addition to the journalists, more than 60 automotive industry executives attended the event. Winners were honored in various categories, with the overall winner receiving a silver cup “traveling trophy” along with the honor of being named “Truck of Texas” and “SUV of Texas”.

According to TAWA president Harold Gunn, “’ Truck of Texas’ is really the most important award of its type in the industry. We love trucks down here, and we really use these vehicles everyday. And since we spend so much time in our vehicles, for us it’s not just about how the horse feels being towed, but how your butt feels sitting in the truck, too.”

Results of the 2009 Texas Truck Rodeo

For the seventh consecutive year, a Ford truck took top honors – this year it went to the 2010 F-150, led by the SVT Raptor Supercab. Ford also won Outstanding Feature, while Ford’s lineup of trucks also won Truck Line of Texas.

Here is a complete list of winners:

Truck of Texas – 2010 Ford F-150

SUV of Texas – 2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 BlueTEC

CUV of Texas – 2010 Cadillac SRX 2.8 Liter Turbo

Truck Line of Texas – Ford

Outstanding Feature – Ford Work Solutions

Full-Size Pickup Truck – 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor Supercab

Mid-Size Pickup Truck – 2010 Dodge Dakota Crew Cab TRX4

Luxury Pickup Truck – 2010 Ford F-150 King Ranch SuperCrew

Heavy Duty Pickup Truck – 2010 Dodge Ram 3500

Full-Size Sport Utility Vehicle – 2010 Ford Expedition King Ranch

Mid-Size Sport Utility Vehicle – 2010 Toyota 4Runner Trail Edition

Compact Sport Utility Vehicle – 2010 Jeep Patriot Limited 4X4

Full-Size Luxury Sport Utility Vehicle – 2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 BlueTEC

Mid-Size Luxury Sport Utility Vehicle – 2010 Lexus R450h

Luxury Crossover Utility Vehicle – 2010 Cadillac SRX 2.8 Liter Turbo

Compact Crossover Utility Vehicle – 2010 Subaru Outback

Mid-Size Crossover Utility Vehicle – 2010 Lincoln MKX

Full-Size Crossover Utility Vehicle – 2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost

The Bottom Line

LotPro.com would like to thank Harold Gunn for his help in furnishing the details for this article and, once again, a tip of the Stetson to Ford for a job well done.

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