What’s new in dealer showrooms for 2009

For those of you who haven’t been following along, this is my 10th year writing the new model year column (in one paper or another), and my, how things have changed. Back then trucks and SUVs were kings of the hill; now they’re more like the brother-in-law who was dispatched to an ambassadorship of some faraway nation.

2009 Ford F-150

Yet, due to long lead times for new models, both Chrysler and Ford are unveiling completely redesigned models of their full-sized pickups this fall. Back when I started this column gas was averaging around $1.60 per gallon. People who had no intention of ever throwing anything more than a bag of groceries in the bed of their new F-150s were nonetheless buying them like hotcakes. Now that the price of regular has fallen from its July high of around $4.30, manufacturers are crossing their fingers that buyers will look at today’s price of $3.75 and say, “Not so bad!” and buy a new truck or two. Good luck.

Anyway, here for your perusal are the all-new Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram pickups. According to Ford, the new F-150 is lighter and more powerful with more interior space. They’re also claiming an all-important fuel economy improvement to 14/20 miles per gallon city/highway for the 4.6-liter V-8 equipped model (there is no longer a six-cylinder model available). Dodge still offers a V-6 in the Ram, but the emphasis seems to be on the HEMI V-8, which they proclaim to have “Shockingly fast performance: 0-60 mph in less than 6 sec.” Sounds like we’re back in the 1960s. If you do really need a truck, I guess an improved truck is better than last year’s model.

Obviously, with truck and SUV sales down, car sales have picked up some (but not all) of the slack. That would be cars, as we’ve always known them to be, and crossovers, which are a cross between a car and an SUV—essentially something which looks station wagonish but sits SUVish a bit higher off the ground. Like, for example, the new Chevy Traverse. You may see this and think, “That’s not new at all. I’ve seen them driving around for the past year or so.” And you’d be right. And wrong. What you’ve seen are Buick Enclaves, Saturn Outlooks, and GMC Acadias. I’m surprised it took Chevy this long to get their own version of the vehicle which replaced the GM minivans. Look to get around 17/24 miles per gallon, which may not sound like much but is a smidgen better than the 16/23 for the departed Uplander minivan (which is still available as a 2008 model, but doesn’t show up anywhere in the 2009 model lineup). Personally I think the Traverse is the best-looking of GM’s bunch of crossovers.

Some other interesting new models are: the Hyundai Elantra Touring, a station wagon version of the sedan which is making its North American debut after spending a couple of years in Europe; the Lincoln MKS, a new luxury sedan built on Ford Taurus (Five Hundred) underpinnings which couldn’t be farther from the frumpy old Town Car (which is alive and well and I’d imagine still playing to great reviews in the Greater Miami area); a new Mazda6, naturally made larger in the great American tradition of model redesigns, which the company is hoping will match up better against the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry; and, almost 40 years after its original introduction (and 35 years after its demise), the Dodge Challenger, which is also bigger and more powerful than its predecessor, but quite evenly matched with the present day competition—the Ford Mustang and the soon-to-come Chevy Camaro. If nothing else, the Challenger is a great-looking car.

Next time we’ll look at some of the new concept vehicles being introduced. More often than not, these are predictions of what’s soon to come.

2009 Dodge Ram 2009 Chevy Traverse 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring 2009 Mazda 6 2009 Lincoln MKS 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8