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Who sold the most heavy-duty pickups in 2012? PickupTrucks.com investigates

Domestic manufacturers enjoyed a good year for heavy-duty pickup sales in 2012. PickupTrucks.com has taken a close look at exactly how those sales broke down between each manufacturer and between three-quarter and one-ton pickups. Ford sold some 67,786 F-250 Super Duty models last year with the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD falling just behind at 56,359 units. The Ram 2500 HD came in third at 41,918, while the GMC Sierra 2500 HD earned itself fourth place with 27,616 deliveries. While Ford held onto the top spot in the one-ton market, Ram easily nailed down second place by selling more 3500 HD models last year than General Motors sold Silverado 3500 HD and Sierra 3500 HD trucks combined.
So, did GM manage to sell more trucks than Ford with its two brands? Very nearly. Ford sold a total of 119,338 heavy-duty pickups to GM's 111,555. Ram, meanwhile, moved a distant 77,583. But perhaps more interesting is the diesel take rate in this segment. PickupTrucks.com says 80 percent of all domestic one-ton trucks roll from the dealer lot with a turbo-diesel under the hood. Head over to the site for a closer look at the breakdown.

How did Ford keep the GT a secret before Detroit?

True secrecy is a rarity in the automotive industry. Sure, companies try to keep their future projects under wraps all of the time, but usually a spy shot or blurry development photo leaks out. The complete lack of any hard details before its unveiling likely helped make the Ford GT one of the biggest stars of the 2015 Detroit Auto Show. Not only was it the favorite of Autoblog's editors, but the supercar scored a prestigious EyesOn Design Award, too. Rumors about the vehicle had circulated for weeks before the show, but no one really knew much about the GT until it rolled onto the stage for Ford's press conference in Joe Louis Arena. Amazingly, the Blue Oval kept things mostly a secret during the car's 14- month gestation period prior to its debut. According to Automotive News, the GT project began in late 2013 by a skunk works team, including six designers, that guided the supercar along from birth until the unveiling. Ford kept things clandestine by locking the vehicle in a basement storage room, and only the group members got a key to the lock. Much of the development was also done at night to further keep the secret, but occasionally the prototype was hauled outside on weekends to check it out in natural light. Because of the speed in getting the development done and for even more stealth, the designers didn't get input from the Blue Oval's other styling teams around the world. But that was somewhat of a double-edged sword. "You don't actually get to bounce opinions off people," Ford design boss Moray Callum said to Automotive News. "We were on tenterhooks ourselves until the first people saw it." Even now, there are still mysteries surrounding the GT. There's still no official word on the supercar's power; just that it's over 600 horsepower. There are also the persistent rumors going back months that the Blue Oval plans to take the GT racing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of automaker's Le Mans victory. Although, maybe this time the secrecy wasn't so good because we might have got a glimpse of the racer, recently. Related Video:

These Canadians somehow forgot how to drive in snow

Montreal drivers experienced a slow-motion pileup on their streets this weeks thanks to the first snow fall of the season. According to the CBC, slippery conditions caused a small pileup involving cars, buses and even a street clearing vehicle. Onlookers in neighboring office buildings watched as vehicle after vehicle slid down Cote du Beaver Hall and crashed into the scrum of waiting cars. First there was a city bus, then a white Ford F-150 work truck loaded down with ladders, then another city bus came along and sandwiched the poor F-150. A Montreal Police Charger then came down the hill backwards, hit the bus in a slow, sad crash before it was crashed into by an out of control plow truck. Since its posting yesterday, the video of the crash has gone viral. Various other vehicles–a green-topped Scion delivery truck and a couple workaday sedans–were lucky enough to escape the pileup, but still suffered through a white-knuckled slippery descent down the hill. Colin Creado, who works nearby the crash site, told the CBC although it was pretty slippery, he was surprised at all the carnage since the storm was forecast well in advance. "You would have thought ... they would have salted the area or at least cordoned it off, because that road is pretty steep," he told the station. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: CBC Auto News Weird Car News Dodge Ford Driving Safety Truck Commercial Vehicles Police/Emergency Sedan snow montreal winter driving