September 26, 2006

Nissan and Toyota Delay the Release of their Large(r) Trucks

Every once in awhile, Wakeboard Report covers news from the auto industry, because we're interested in the vehilces that are capable of towing big wake boats. Autoblog.com reports today that the much anticipated full size vehicles that Nissan and Toyota respectively were planning to bring to market in the next fiscal year, will be delayed. Citing trouble repurposing existing frames and other structural components, the companies don't expect to release their full size trucks until 2009. Ouch - that is a long time to wait for a pretty promising set offerings. And by "full size" we're talking "gigantic" for most people. These delayed vehicles are intended to compete with the Ford F250 and Chevrolet 2500. The kind of trucks that if I had an unlimited budget, I'd need.

The phrase "it tows so well you don't even know it's back there" gets overused. I have towed in lots of different vehicles - some handle the task more admirably than others. Some extremely capable vehilces like the Ford F150 tow well but let's be clear; you'll still know it is back there. Something less capable, like the Jeep Wrangler for instance, tows an inboard tournament boat so poorly, you'd swear the weight was actually in front of you! I have never had the opportunity to tow a long distance with something as capable as an F250, but I'll bet that the trip is a lot less harrowing with something like that - you may even actually relax for a moment or two. And as someone that has owned Toyotas and Nissan vehicles and has experienced their low maintenance costs and high levels of reliability and owner satisfaction, and tows long distances occasionally, this is an exciting proposition. Can you picture a crew cab diesel version of that "Super Tundra" shown above? I can. Sitting right in my garage that I don't have next to the Gallardo that I also don't have. It is nice to dream!

Check out the Autoblog.com entry

Posted by erik