Ford and Lexus Take Truck Rodeo Honors

FORT WORTH, Texas – In winning its third consecutive Truck of Texas award from the Texas Auto Writers, Ford Motor Company is making it a tradition. Conversely, Lexus – in winning its first SUV of Texas trophy with its hybrid-powered Lexus RX 400h – is breaking with tradition. Those were the top awards, determined by a panel of 50-plus automotive journalists, in the 13th annual Texas Truck Rodeo.

Ford Motor Company continued its winning ways, following overall Truck of Texas honors garnered in both 2003 and 2004. This year its Amarillo-edition F-250 took home the trophy by impressing voters with its aggressive visual stance and take-it-to-the-ranch capability. In this category, there are no half measures and, despite heavy duty competition from Dodge, GM, Toyota and Nissan, attending journalists found more of the ‘right stuff’ in the F-250 than any of the other competing vehicles. Ford also won for Best Truck Line of Texas.

In the SUV category, heightened sensitivity to both fuel and emission issues lent Lexus’ RX 400h a dose of timely credibility. Its argument is helped by the combination of refinement and real world capability. For those reasons people generally buy SUVs, the RX 400h is a bona fide homerun. The Lexus was also a winner for Best SUV technology.

In addition to the balloted judging, which determined two overall winners and fourteen category winners, four awards were given based on the judges’ subjective evaluations. Winning the Pickup Design nod was Nissan, for its ultra-competitive Titan. The redesigned Mercedes-Benz ML 500 won the same design recognition in the SUV category. The award for Best Pickup Technology is shared by Dodge’s expansive Ram 2500 Mega Cab and the all-new Honda Ridgeline, an all-together unique take on a mid-sized pickup. Best SUV Technology went, as mentioned, to Lexus.

A list of all categories and their respective winners follows:

TRUCK OF TEXAS, Ford F-250 Amarillo

SUV OF TEXAS, Lexus RX 400h

FULL SIZE PICKUP, Ford F150 King Ranch

HEAVY DUTY PICKUP, GMC Sierra HD Duramax

MID SIZE PICKUP, Honda Ridgeline

LUXURY PICKUP, Lincoln Mark LT

FULL SIZE SUV, Jeep Commander

MID SIZE SUV, Hummer H3

COMPACT SUV, Mercury Mariner hybrid

MID SIZE LUXURY SUV, Volkswagen Touareg

FULL SIZE LUXURY SUV, Ranger Rover Supercharged

ULTIMATE SUV, Hummer H1

COMPACT CROSSOVER, Subaru Forester XT Ltd

MID SIZE CROSSOVER, Toyota Highlander hybrid

LUXURY CROSSOVER, Volvo XC90 SPV

FULL SIZE VAN, Chevrolet 1500 Conversion

BEST DESIGN – PICKUP, Nissan Titan

BEST DESIGN – SUV, Mercedes ML 500

BEST TECHNOLOGY PICKUP, Dodge Ram 2500 &

Honda Ridgeline (TIE)

BEST TECHNOLOGY SUV, Lexus RX 400h

TRUCK LINE OF TEXAS, Ford Division