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New Toyota Tacoma, Ranger, Colorado/Canyon fight for midsize truck dominance

Sam Wedll has been driving his Toyota Tacoma pickup on the rugged roads of Northern California for seven trouble-free years, racking up almost 100,000 miles, so he’s interested in the redesigned version of the truck coming later this year. He paid $34,000 for his truck in 2016, loading it with plenty of options. HeÂ’s eyeing the new gas-electric hybrid Toyota Motor Corp. is going to offer, but Wedll, who does his own repairs, isnÂ’t interested in paying luxury prices. “The hybrid is pretty interesting to me because I like the idea of the fuel efficiency,” says Wedll, 47, a casino operations manager in Blue Lake, California. “IÂ’m just trying to save some costs wherever possible.” The Tacoma, known as the Taco to its legions of loyalists, is the leader of the pack in midsize pickups, one of the fastest-growing auto markets of the past decade. With outdoorsy weekend warriors and do-it-yourselfers looking for a truck that could fit in their garage, sales of midsize pickups more than doubled from 2010 to 2020. General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., which abandoned the market segment when sales slowed early this century, returned with new trucks to take on the Tacoma, which has dominated the medium truck market for almost two decades. Although it's easy to predict that the most lushly appointed versions of the new Taco could approach $50,000 (prices wonÂ’t be announced until later this year), Toyota insists it isnÂ’t backing away from budget buyers even as it rolls out fancier trucks. The current Tacoma starts at $28,030, and the company says affordability is critical to its success. In fact, Toyota will continue to offer the Taco with an old-school stick shift. The Tacoma controls 42% of the midsize truck market and outsells FordÂ’s offering 4 to 1. ThatÂ’s a role reversal from the full-size pickup market, where FordÂ’s F-Series has ruled the road for 46 years. Tacoma sales in the U.S. surpassed 237,000 last year, more than twice the number of GMÂ’s No. 2-ranked Chevrolet Colorado, according to consultant LMC Automotive. But as growth in the overall segment slows, the midsize market is developing into more of a turf war, with manufacturers vying for the sweetest highest-margin spots. “This segment is likely past its prime growth spurt,” says Jeff Schuster, president of the Americas for LMC Automotive.

Chevy Silverado Realtree Edition calls to your inner woodsman

Hunters and woodsmen, this could be your next pickup truck. It's a special-edition Silverado, done up with the camo specialists at Realtree. This truck packs all the off-road equipment you could want, and boasts a special appearance package to set it apart from ordinary citified pickups. The Realtree edition is based on the 2016 Chevy Silverado 1500 in LTZ trim with a crew cab and the Z71 package. It's all blacked out, from the bodywork and Bowtie emblems to the side steps and 20-inch wheels with their all-terrain tires. It features Realtree logos and camouflage graphics inside and out, and since it comes with the Z71 pack, it also features monotube shocks, a locking rear diff, an underbody shield, and hill-decent control. This special edition results from a decade-long partnership between Chevrolet and Realtree, but stops short of a full camo treatment. For that, you may want to scope out the Special Ops edition recently confirmed for production after its debut at SEMA (alongside another Realtree show truck). Outdoorsy types, however, may very well be more attracted to this Realtree special, which could prove just the foil GM needs to the Ram Mossy Oak Edition. It launches in the spring, just in time for hunting season – though you'll still need to fit your own gun rack. Related Video: CHEVROLET INTRODUCES SILVERADO REALTREE® EDITION HERE'S THE STORY Chevrolet today introduced the 2016 Silverado Realtree® Edition – an outdoors-inspired special edition that leverages the strength, versatility and personalization possibilities of the Silverado and distinguishes it with camo graphics from Realtree, the world's leading camouflage brand. It's the latest and strongest example of a decade-long partnership between Chevrolet and Realtree. PRODUCT DETAILS The new Realtree® Edition package is offered on Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71 crew cab models and includes exterior camo graphics and the Realtree logo embroidered on the front-seat headrests. Additionally, interior attributes feature the Realtree camo logo and graphics. The Silverado Realtree® edition also includes special blackout trim, black bow ties, off-road assist steps and black 20" wheels with all-terrain tires. Also included is the legendary Z71 off-road package featuring Rancho monotube shocks, Hill Decent Control, an underbody shield and the G80 auto locking rear differential.

Cadillac CT6 production ceases January 2020 as part of D-Ham layoffs

General Motors filed paperwork under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act with Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity this week, detailing events to come at the automaker's Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant. Starting February 28, 814 salaried and hourly workers at D-Ham, as its called, will be laid off. The 753 workers represented by the UAW will begin receiving offers in January to relocate to facilities in Michigan and Ohio, or buyout offers. As the 4-million-square-foot plant winds down through April 3 to a skeleton crew, the Cadillac CT6 ceases production in January 2020, and the last Chevrolet Impala comes off the line on February 28. The loss of the CT6 represents the end of Cadillac's latest brief, and highly regarded, adventure into flagship sedans. It might also mean the end of the 4.2-liter Blackwing twin-turbo V8 engine, at least for the moment. Both casualties are calamities. The death of the Impala closes the door on a nameplate in production for 52 years since 1957, having started off as a top-tier trim for the 1958 Bel Air known as the Bel Air Impala, once advertised with the line, "Lets you know you're the boss." As part of the new four-year labor agreement with the UAW, GM is keeping D-Ham open to build a new line of battery-electric vehicles, ultimately investing $3 billion and tripling employment to 2,225 workers when fully operational. The agreement described the coming EV as a "van" that would commence production in late 2021, but various reports say what's actually coming is a range of premium EVs in pickup and SUV bodystyles under the program codename BT1. The easy predictions put an electric GMC Sierra and Cadillac Escalade among the EV fold, but not until 2023, according to auto industry forecaster LMC Automotive. Before that, LMC claims an electric van will debut in late 2021, along with a battery-powered rebirth of the Hummer brand in pickup and SUV forms, also in late 2021.