Ford F-Series F-250
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DEARBORN, Oct. 31, 2007 - Ford trucks and crossovers have once again earned gold at the 2007 Texas Auto Writers Truck Rodeo.
The Ford Harley-Davidson™ F-250 Super Duty was chosen "Truck of Texas" and best Heavy Duty Pickup Truck, while Lincoln and Mercury vehicles also took top honors.
"It is a tremendous honor to have the Texas Auto Writers Association recognize a Ford F-Series truck as 'Truck of Texas' for a fifth straight year and a Super Duty for the last three years," said Mike Crowley, Ford truck and SUV group marketing manager. "It's clear that Ford F-Series trucks are king in Texas."
The annual awards are significant because Texas is the largest truck market in the world, according to Harold Gunn, president of Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA). "We use trucks a lot, and we drive a lot of miles in them, and it's clear that Ford 'gets' that," said Gunn.
A total of 66 vehicles were entered in the rodeo and evaluated by the 48 registered TAWA media. TAWA is one of the largest associations of auto writers in the U.S.
Other Ford vehicles also earned top honors in this year's TAWA awards.
The Lincoln Mark LT was chosen the best Luxury Pickup Truck, the Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD won the Compact Sport Utility class while the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX won their classes for Compact Utility Crossover and Luxury Crossover Utility, respectively.
Making the wins sweeter was the fact that several of Ford brands are in the middle of their product cycle and were competing in those categories against new entries from other manufacturers.
The TAWA judges also picked Ford's industry-exclusive innovations as their top two Outstanding Feature awards. Taking first was the tailgate step on the F-250 and coming in second was Ford SYNC™, the voice-activated, hands-free, in-car connectivity system for mobile phones and digital media players.
In addition, Land Rover LR2 HSE placed second behind the Mercury Mariner in the Compact Sport Utility class while the Volvo XC70 placed behind the Lincoln MKX in the Luxury Crossover segment.
Also placing second were the Lincoln Navigator (Full-Size Luxury Sport Utility Vehicle), the Mazda CX-9 (Mid-Size Crossover Utility) and the Ford Explorer Sport Trac (Mid-Size Pickup).
As part of the truck rodeo, Gunn said the vehicles were evaluated on a course designed for suspension testing. The course was set up at the Oak Hill M/X Raceway in Decatur, Texas.
"We were going over hills, moguls, ruts, washboards, everything you could come across in regular truck driving," said Gunn. "You should be pretty happy with how you did."
