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Knight Rider gets picked up for full season

Oh dear. E! is reporting that the Peacock has ordered up nine more episodes of Knight Rider, meaning that NBC has locked in the show for a full season, and thanks to our inexplicably popular Knight Rider Liveblog, my Wednesday nights are effectively booked between 8 and 9 PM Eastern for the foreseeable future. The show's viewership grew last week by 900,000 and it's doing well with crap-tolerant males in the 18-34 and 18-49 demos, so this isn't all that surprising. Imagine what the numbers would be like if the show were actually any good...
posted : 10/21/2008 @8:10:26 PM
SEMA Preview: Street Scene Equipment F-150

Custom truck lovers, it doesn't matter that the whole world might seem to be against you, you will not be forgotten at this year's SEMA. Performance West will be bringing a hotted up F-150 and F-350, and now Street Scene Equipment rumbles onto the stage with it's own entrant, a juiced up 2009 F-150 Lariat. The SSE job appears to be a little more subdued than the Performance West numbers, but that might just be down to the lack of racing stripes. The Lariat will of course be dropped, because you can't even call it a tuning job if the truck is more than an inch above the ground. After that, the exterior gets new front and rear bumpers and skirts, new mirrors, a bed cap, a tailgate wing, and some of DuPont 's Hot Hues to make it all shiny, among other things. Inside will be the standard rolling theater treatment: headrest video monitors and a "high-end infotainment system" from Audio Innovations. In keeping with the restrained theme, engine mods looks to be limited to an Air Raid intake and a new exhaust. Subtle ain't such a bad thing, though -- we gotta admit we're digging that grille.
posted : 10/13/2008 @10:46:14 PM
What the...? Volkswagen considering Beetle-based pickup?

Of all the wild-ass rumors we hear on a weekly daily hourly basis, this one has that special air of cow manure. According to Automotive News, Volkswagen is considering a pickup truck for the U.S. based off the second generation Beetle, which is due out around the turn of the decade. The rationale behind this implausible idea stems from VW's goal to boost annual vehicle sales in the U.S. from its current 230,000 units to 1 million vehicle sales per year by 2018. Other derivatives of the new new Beetle could also include a crossover and a wagon. Although the recently revealed VW Pickup Concept is only bound for markets outside the U.S. and Europe, a compelling case can be made for a light-duty truck for occasional haulers here in the States. But we somehow doubt that the U.S. consumers could warm up to a Beetle-based truck – nostalgia can only go so far.
posted : 10/13/2008 @9:16:40 PM
First Drive: 2009 Suzuki Equator

Suzuki has chosen a rather dubious time to enter the pickup truck market with the 2009 Equator. As you are surely aware, trucks and SUV sales are way down from their apogee a few years back, and small cars like the ones that have historically filled Suzuki showrooms are all the rage. So, why would the Japanese automaker even bother with a mid-sized pickup truck based on the Nissan Frontier? That's a good question, and we aimed to find out when we grabbed the keys to Team Yellow's first-ever real pickup contender in the U.S. Read on to see what the Suzuki Equator has to offer.
posted : 10/2/2008 @4:38:15 PM
Volkswagen unveils Concept Pickup, aka the Robust

Volkswagen's entry into the "one-ton" truck fray has officially hit the Web before its proper unveiling at the 62nd IAA Commercial Vehicles Show, and although it's only called the "Concept Pickup" for now, this spartan work truck is what consumers in South America and other emerging markets (not the U.S. and Europe) will likely know as the Robust when it goes into production In Pacheco, Argentina next year. Blending V-Dub style with a profile reminiscent of the Honda Ridgeline, the double-cab concept is tarted up with SAR badges, a functional light bar and all the life-saving tools that you'd find in a coastal search-and-rescue-mobile, include a Baywatch-style "can" in the bed. We're partial to the massive grille and deep air dam that spans the fascia, along with the bars flanking the bed and the incredibly production-ready interior. Both gasoline and diesel powerplants will be available when the production version goes on sale next year, and if it were 1995, we'd loved to see the VW pickup available in the U.S.
posted : 10/2/2008 @4:08:33 PM
Volkswagen pickup concept to debut next weekPickup truck sales have tanked here in the States, but in emerging markets, affordable haulers are still in demand. VW has announced that those markets would get a sneak peak at the concept version of its upcoming pickup truck offering at next week's Commercial Vehicles Show in Hanover, Germany. Our friend Mike Levine over at Pickuptrucks.com says that while VW calls the upcoming truck a one ton, it's more like a mid-sizer. Since the spy pics we showed you back in April were of a Toyota HiLux body sitting atop VW internals, we'd tend to agree with that statement. Names on the table for VW's upcoming truck are the Robust and Taro II, and it's to be built in Pacheco, Argentina beginning next year. The Robust was not designed for the US market, so Stateside VW fans will have to cut the back out of a Touareg if they need an open truck bed.
posted : 9/24/2008 @10:41:18 PM
SEMA Preview: Mopar bringing Dodge Ram R/T concept

With gas prices still leaving people numb, the Dodge Ram R/T probably won't get the reception Chrysler wants – but that doesn't mean the automaker won't give it some good car show loving: Mopar is bringing a 'roided up version of the truck to this year's SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The blue bruiser gets the 5.7-liter HEMI with 390 horsepower, good for enough giddy up to shoot to the truck to 60 mph in under six seconds. The body gets more of the Mr. Olympia treatment: a bulging hood with dual intakes over a deep air dam, a bed cover with a spoiler, a lowered suspension over 22-inch wheels for that "Don't mess!" aggression, and obligatory racing stripes. We like the sound of all that. Come November 4, let the posedown begin.
posted : 9/23/2008 @10:44:48 PM
Heavy-duty Jeep J8 now available everywhere but here

Who doesn't get the Jeep J8? Um, that would be the United States, Home of Jeep. Hardly seems fair... considering that pretty much every other country in the world gets a crack at the ultra-Wrangler, which comes equipped with a 2.8-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel with 158-horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque mated to a five-speed automatic transmission. Memo to Chrysler: The Wranger is screaming out for a small displacement diesel engine. No? Fine. We can understand the fact that this engine isn't certified for sale in the States and it would be expensive to make happen. At least the Pentastar brand could offer the J8's nearly 3,000-pound payload capacity via rear leaf springs and reinforced frame in its home market. Still no dice? Could we at least get the pickup bed as an option on the Unlimited chassis? Not likely, would be our best guess. Oh well, we can wish.
posted : 9/22/2008 @10:32:17 PM
Mahindra delays launch in U.S. to late 2009

Truck shoppers hoping to grab a Mahindra pickup early next year are gonna have to wait a little longer. It seems the challenges of bringing an India-made vehicle to the U.S. are difficult, and the vehicles now won't go on sale in the U.S. before the fourth quarter of 2009. Even though 324 dealers have signed up to sell the truck, few of them have actually built the needed facilities. That's not enough to keep Georgia-based Global Vehicles from going ahead with their plans to begin U.S. sales. But GV's CEO John Perez recenly spoke to Mahindra's global managing director Anand Mahindra who, according to Automotive News, said that no truck with his family's name on it was going to fail in the U.S. Mr. Mahindra plans to run a fleet of his company's vehicles over 3.2 million miles of U.S. roads before he'll be approve the trucks for sale here. The plan is for the trucks to utilize a 4-cylinder diesel engine not yet approved by the EPA. But Perez says he has no fear their January application will have any trouble getting blessed. While the trucks are getting some U.S. experience, Global Vehicles will continue to sign up new dealers, and hopes to have 450 by the end of 2009. The importer has a sales goal of 50,000 vehicles a year, though Mahindra says it could produce as many as 400,000 U.S.-bound trucks if demand is there. And if Mahindra's promise of 30 mpg holds true, there could be huge demand. If things go well, look for a diesel-powered Mahindra SUV to follow.
posted : 9/13/2008 @5:14:41 AM
Ford reveals Super Duty Cabela FX4 and Harley-Davidson F-450 models

Outdoor enthusiasts and urban cowboys get some love from Ford this year in the form of the Blue Oval's first-ever Cabela FX4-edition F-Series and the latest Harley-Davidson tie-up -- the first time ever the Bar and Shield logo has appeared on the heaviest-duty F-450 model. Apparently, Ford has found that 76-percent of F-Series buyers hunt and fish, hence the newly expanded relationship between the automaker and the outdoorsy retailer. Consisting mostly of a paint and badge job, the Cabela buyer gets his or her choice of five two-tone paint schemes: Ebony, Oxford White, Forest Green Metallic, Royal Red Metallic and Silver Metallic -- all with Sterling Grey Metallic lower accents along the rocker panels, running boards and wheel arch moldings. For the twelfth iteration of the Harley-Davidson edition, Ford will put blue-flames along the length of the vehicle and on the black leather seats. Also included are large chromed vents just aft of the front wheels. Expect plenty of Harley logos all over the truck, though a photo has yet to appear. Along with these two new models, the Super Duty trucks receive an optional spray-in bedliner from the factory, an integrated trailer brake controller, the new Ford Work Solutions suite, Voice-Activated Navigation System with SIRIUS Travel Link and the heavy duty trucks first application of SYNC.
posted : 9/13/2008 @3:24:08 AM
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