At this point, GM can do whatever they want, the rest of the industry could care less about what GM is doing. Their marketing department is not in touch with what customers want. The current pickups are the trucks that GM needed to release back in 2007. The reason they have still been seeing high transaction prices despite slumping sales is simply because fanboys will always pay a premium.

If GM is to truly succeed in the medium duty market, they will need to offer something besides just this cab forward design. Such a design may not be appealing to all buyers. It doesn't have that "tough" look that a F650 or F750 has. That could be a deciding factor for buyers.

@Big Al from Oz GM will come out a winner if they can continue to build cost effective trucks. With every generation of GM trucks, I see many still on the road, working day in and day out. Simplicity and reliability go a long way. With the recent changes in the truck market, GM has perhaps the best chance to continue to offer a cost effective truck that meets most demands of the truck buyer. Ram's strategy is a 1500 diesel, but at what cost? Ford's strategy is aluminum, but again, at what cost?

@Big Al from Oz I do agree with you. What is the purpose of CNG? It is said to be cleaner burning. Does the perceived benefit outweigh the cost? I don't think so. In many U.S. jurisdictions, city and county buses have been CNG or LNG for many years now. They always seem to have lots of problems too. It is politics at play.

"The new prep package, which includes an upgraded intake, hardened valves and valves seats will cost just $315 (identical to 2014 pricing)." Too bad I can't get such upgrades for a normal F150. Okay, I know I'm going to start a debate here, but if Ford offers this with only the CNG trucks, why can't they make this standard on regular trucks? I would be willing to pay the $300 difference for better valves and valve seats. In my experience, it's stuff like valves that tends to be the death of most engines.

I tend to think that the midsize segment can't keep this up. Why? Because what we see now is mostly pent up demand. I believe that moreso in the U.S. than anywhere else, you have a large number of buyers who could just as easily buy a full-size than a mid-sized. Obviously, after the Ranger when out of production, most had little choice and with only the Taco and Frontier to choose from, I'm sure many just went with a full-size instead. Now that there are more options, people who really want a mid-size are happy to buy one. What about those who could go for any truck? My point is, if the mid-sized trucks have a price point that's too close to the full-sized trucks, then it reduces the reasons for people to buy one, except for those who really want a mid-size specifically. When the Ranger was being sold, it's advantage is that it was cheap and reliable. I'm sure the new mid-size trucks are reliable, but are they also cheap? If not, then there is not a pressing reason for people to buy them.

@DenverMike The average Joe may not know or care about what gearing he has, but that doesn't lessen the importance of being selective about what gearing you choose. Also, I think there is a big difference between having 3.21 and 3.55 gears, at least I could tell the difference (I have towing in trucks with both). In some of the old Ford tucks, there was a HUGE difference between 3.55 and 4.10 gears performance wise. Anyways, the point is, I have never felt gearing to be insignificant in any truck that I've driven.

Ram should have either swapped gears or offered the affected owners a new truck of similar value. I don't see $750 going very far to install new gears given how much dealership service departments charge for stuff. On the other hand, how do you drive a truck for 9 months, not being able to tell that it doesn't have the gearing you expected? If you intend to use a truck and get anywhere close to the GVWR (not hard to do on a half ton), it would become abundantly clear what kind of gearing the truck has.

In my humble opinion, one of the biggest hindrances in the current pickup market is this idea that a certain types of trucks are for Americans, and the "global" trucks are for everyone else. Obviously trucks should be marketed towards the demographics of where they are being sold, but I think the days of having separate pickups for separate markets is wasteful. How about start designing a truck to whatever standards are the strictest and then go from there? It would cut down on R&D cost and it would insure that every market gets a chance to get any particular pickups. There are hundreds of options when it comes to make and model of cars. When it comes to trucks, automakers have been afraid to sell anything but full-size trucks in recent years. Now GM is approaching the mid-sized market with caution, but I wonder what it is automakers are so afraid of. If customers desire to choose between all different models of cars, would they not do the same for trucks?

Since the bailouts, 100k warranty seem to have become the norm for the big 3. Obviously it was supposed to be a "proof" that the brands were improving in quality. I think that quality has improve all across the board without a doubt. So maybe these longer warranty are not as necessary as they used to be, but nonetheless, they have become and expectation. When I am buying any vehicle, I will always take into account what kind of warranty it has. I think this is especially important for vehicles that you might pay a premium for such as a pickup truck. They way I see it, people are now taking out 72 month or longer term loans to be able to afford their cars. With trucks having sticker prices of $50k or more, this comes as no surprise. The last position that I would want to ever be in would be to owe money on a vehicle that is out of warranty. That is not a good position to be in. With the typical 5 year/100k warranties that are available right now, that means that you could do a 4 year loan and have a paid off vehicle that is still under warranty. That is great, because in the past, there were no 100k mile warranties. It's an excellent position to be in as a buyer. GM can do whatever they want, but I think that people need to realize if they're going to buy a vehicle with a 60k mile warranty, they better have it paid off by the time they get there. With the prices of trucks these days, you don't want to still owe $20k on a truck and have it out of warranty and then have the unexpected happen, such as needing an engine replacement.

I'm skeptical that Ram will have anything extraordinary to show at this event. I'm hoping it will be the '17 update, but it seems too early for that.

I think over the next few years we will see some changes in the pickup market. I'm not talking about anything shocking product-wise, but changes between who the big players are. I don't believe that the pickup market has reached saturation levels yet, what I think is that those who are wanting to enter the market are being kept out by prices. Ford is in the awkward position of having so much market share that they are going to have to find new ways to keep that market share. The other players in market have to make wise moves in the upcoming years. Nissan has introduced a truck that could be a game changer, depending on reception and if it's significantly cheaper than a 250/2500 truck. I see Toyota as being in the most perilous situation right now. I don't believe many buyers take them seriously. Nissan could easily outsell them.

I thought the Raptor was going to be aluminum, not plastic...

This is an SUV, no?

Overall it looks nice. My biggest gripe is the front grille gives it a "Tundra" look, and that I don't like.

I have some inside information from a very creditable source that the new F-150 has a problem with the windshield and or rear glass either falling out or cracking cause of the aluminum body. Posted by: Tom#3 | Jan 7, 2015 3:21:03 AM And what source would that be? These trucks have not been out long, and there are hardly any of them on the road yet. Until there are more on the road, how do they even know that this is a problem (assuming it's a real problem in the first place). When the GM trucks were about to come out, people were talking about all these imagined problems with the new trucks. Maybe there have been issues, but not like people were talking about originally. Now, all is quiet on the western front. It will be the same with the new F150.

I wonder the same thing. You call it a ram then it needs to be more than a name. Posted by: Real truck | Dec 28, 2014 4:33:58 PM Since when did this matter? I have a question to post for GM guys. On the inside, is your GMC a Chevy or GMC? The answer is neither. It's a "GM" on the inside. Getting back to the topic at hand, anyone with half a brain knows that race cars, monster trucks, etc do not even remotely resemble a stock vehicle. I'm not sure why those where would have difficulty understanding this. Branding on these types of vehicles serves one purpose and one purpose only, marketing. I do feel like I am teaching kindergarten here.

The F150 is a good candidate given the choices. More important that what it is is what it represents moving forward. I don't think it will be a huge hit right away, Ford has positioned themselves well for the future. I remember when the Superduty truck first came out. At the time, most wouldn't want a truck that large. A few years later, every house has one parked in the driveway. Now the Superduty is the standard against which all HD trucks are measured.

I believe the mid-size market is always going to be a fraction of the full-size market in the US, for at least the foreseeable future. Why do mid-size trucks sell slowly here? When we still had the Ranger, people did buy them, but they were always outsold be a great margin by full-sized trucks. Just because GM has offered a more competitive truck for the mid-size market does not mean the market will pick back up. If anything it is going to be saturated.

Not all Ram owners on this site are like those few on here that are an embarrassment, and are actually doing more harm for their favorite brand than good. Although I will say that there are people like that for every brand, but for some odd reason some of the Ram owners on here really take the cake in the fanatical extremist department. Don't judge the rest of the Ram owners because of these select few because those like Hemi Monster actually have a brain, and a higher maturity level than 13. Posted by: 1L-L-A | Dec 3, 2014 12:24:43 PM @ALL-One Thanks for the compliment. I always try to add commentary that I feel will be beneficial to the site, or I will debate points that I feel strongly about. I haven't commented much lately because all the nonsense that goes on here. I do think that there are some fanatical Ram owners here, and I don't honestly know what can be done about it. Pickups are a competitive segment so it comes as no surprise that those who drive the are just as "competitive". I think the lack of maturity is what makes it so hard to deal with day in and day out.

When I was at the LA auto show this weekend, I had my first chance to see a Colorado up close and sit in it. I was left unimpressed. Overall, I felt that it retained too many characteristics of the "old GM". On thing I noticed right off is that the bed contained visible welds running the length of the bed on each side of the floor of the bed, connecting the floor to the sides of the bed. Furthermore, given the size of the Colorado, it has the interior space of a compact truck, even though it is a mid-sized truck. Also the console shifter looks like it was taken straight out of the 90's. Modern console shifters look eloquent and sporty. This one looked like an afterthought.

From the perspective of the automaker, fuel economy concerns are mainly to meet CAFE. The fact is that consumers who need a truck will buy one regardless of whether it gets 1 mpg better than the previous year's model. When the Ecodiesel came out, I doubt that it brought very many first time truck buyers to the market. No one was sitting around at home saying, "I'm not going to buy a truck until there is one that gets 28mpg". People who really need a truck have to buy what's currently in the market. So here is what I am concerned about: Ford has made a huge investment to get their aluminum trucks ready. What did they gain? Increased towing capacity and slightly increased FE. Everyone makes the argument that you can't compare the Ecoboost to a diesel. Okay, maybe not, but compare it to the Pentastar. It makes 1mpg more. Big deal. Granted the Ecoboost is more powerful, but I think initially, the '15 F150 is going to have a hard time living up to all the hype surrounding it. I'm not here to push Ram on anyone, but I think something needs to be pointed out. When Chrysler came out of bankruptcy, one of their most valuable assets was the current Ram platform. At that point in time, no one knew what they could make of it. Five years later, they are selling a truck that has best in class FE for 1/2 tons, and a truck that has produced continual double digit sales growth. This has all happened without anything special like moving to an aluminum platform. If Ford wants to do aluminum, that's great. The issue is that if they are going to do aluminum it has to do something to make their truck something better than what it was. Is that what has happened?

I will also be attending the LA auto show. While it would be nice to see a a truck related "surprise", I don't think there will be anything mind-blowing. Rather, there will more than likely be some cool ideas that could translate into future trucks. Sometimes it's the simple ideas that can actually turn into something that us truck buyers would want in a truck. I also plan to take a good look at the 2015 F150, since it will be my first opportunity to see one it person. I have no intention of buying one, but I like to see what the competition has to offer.

@Chris So if that's true then it is almost exactly on par with the Ecodiesel. The f150online forum states 28 highway, 21 city, 23 combined. Ram is 28 highway, 20 city and also 23 combined.

Now that SEMA is over and done with, the LA auto show starts this week. I wonder if Ford will use this opportunity to announce the mpg numbers for the F150? They have to do it soon.