Pickup Line

Detroit was the showcase for cars, but Chicago kicked it into 4-wheel drive with an array of compact pickup trucks.

New midsize pickups were unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show last month by Kia Motors America Inc., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd., Toyota Motor Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG.

Kia used the show to lobby for a pickup and more capacity, as it showed its KCV-4 Mojave concept. It's not destined for production, but there's nothing the U.S. arm of the auto maker wants more.

The problem is there's nowhere to build it, says KMA President and CEO Peter Butterfield. The concept rides on an extended platform of the Sorento SUV, built at a bursting factory in South Korea. Even if there were capacity, U.S. duties on imports preclude it. Butterfield says there are no plans for a plant here, nor is there room at parent Hyundai's forthcoming Alabama plant.

Plus, Kia SUVs are truck-based body-on-frame, while Hyundai's Santa Fe is a car-based unibody. Hyundai officials see it as a key distinction between the related OEMs.

At the Toyota stand, the Tacoma X-Runner concept pickup, which appears anything but ready to haul dirt, symbolized Toyota's assertion that future growth in the midsize and fullsize pickup segments will come from “personal-use” buyers.

The X-Runner represents the sheetmetal slated for the production '05 Tacoma that goes on sale in September as a lifestyle vehicle. Styling, interior and refinement are oriented to younger buyers.

With a 240-hp 4L DOHC V-6, it accelerates from 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in seven seconds. A supercharged 300-hp variant cuts that down to six seconds. A 6-speed manual transmission will be available.

Meanwhile, Dodge wants to redefine the segment with a new-for-'05 Dakota distinguished by a choice of 4.7L V-8s.

Injected with Dodge Ram DNA, it is larger than its predecessor (the Quad Cab seats six), with a stronger, fully boxed frame borrowed from the Durango SUV, and new front and rear suspensions. Dodge says it delivers best-in-class 7,000-lb. (3,175-kg) tow capacity. Built at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant in Warren, MI, it will be available in dealerships in the fall.

Nissan weighed in with its Frontier Crew Cab (the King Cab bowed in Detroit in January). The Crew Cab is slated to capture at least 50% of the 95,000-100,000 units the auto maker plans to sell.

Nissan says its larger version Crew Cab nearly matches the Dakota in interior room. This shrunken version of the Titan fullsize pickup also gets the factory-installed spray-on bedliner. To be built in Smyrna, TN, it launches in November.

Other reveals include Hyundai's Tucson, which is smaller than the Santa Fe SUV. It goes on sale in late summer in the U.S. as an '05 model, with an annual volume of 40,000 to 50,000 units.

General Motors Corp. debuted the Buick LaCrosse, the replacement for its Regal sedan, two years after Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman-product development, delayed it and the next-generation Buick LeSabre by 12 months to improve exterior styling. The re-work focused on the nose, tail and instrument panel. The front-wheel-drive LaCrosse goes on sale this fall, priced between $23,000 and $32,000.

Ford Motor Co. uncovered its '05 Montego fullsize sedan. A take rate for all-wheel drive as high as 50% could prove a key differentiator between it and the Ford Five Hundred on which it is based.
— Katherine Zachary, Brian Corbett and Bill Visnic