The ChineseGreat Wall Wingle has entered the worldwide market in 2006. The vehicle was also known as the Steed in Europe and the V-Series in Australia.
The Steed was available in both single and double cab configurations and offered a good mix between comfort, price and practicality.
The exterior design looked like a combination between Isuzu’s D Series and the Volkswagen Magellan Concept.
The vehicle is available with two engines which come with 2.4 and 2.8 liter displacements and are mated on a five speed manual transmission. The Steed 3 can be ordered with either 2WD or 4WD configurations.
The Holden Rodeo was basically a rebadged version of the Isuzu Rodeo and was sold between 2003 and 2007.
Except for some minor exterior differences the Holden Rodeo looked identical with its Japanese twin. The same platform was also used to build the GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado.
The Holden Rodeo was offered in a wide range of versions including single, double and extended cabs, and also two and four wheel drive models.
The truck was fairly practical and coped great with many arduous jobs. Though, the Holden Rodeo had to deal with a pretty strong competition which affected its sales charts.
The vehicle has a minimum payload of 1054 kg with a maximum towing capacity of 2000 kg or 3000 kg, depending on the engine.
The old Colorado was a pretty competitive vehicle, offering a good balance between comfort and utility. The new generation moves this heritage even further and is a completely new vehicle designed from the ground up to respect the contemporary requirements of pickup trucks.
The 2012 Holden Colorado shares the same platform and technology with the Isuzu D-Max, but it’s equipped with its own GM engines.
Similarly with the old model, the new Holden Colorado is offered with regular, extended and crew cabs. The vehicle is offered with a choice of two engines which come with 2,5 and 2,8 liter displacements.
The previous generation Holden Colorado arrived in 2008 and is available with a wide range of body styles and engines which make it well suited for a large number of buyers.
The pickup truck is available in 4x2 and 4x4 configurations and the engines lineup includes both diesel and petrol units. Three cab versions are available namely Single Cab, Space Cab and Crew Sab.
Despite the fact that is based on the same platform as the Rodeo, the Colorado is a totally different vehicle that puts accent on utility. The 2008 Holden Colorado was sold until 2012 when it was replaced by the new generation which is based on the Chevrolet Colorado. The old model vehicle had a starting price of $19,990 (excluding taxes).
Proton is a Malaysian car manufacturer which sells its vehicles worldwide. The company designed both passenger and utility vehicles.
The Jumbuck was a compact pickup which had a pretty versatile character, aimed especially at small business owners or farmers.
The pickup’s suspension and body control was tweaked by Lotus Engineering. The Proton Jumbuck uses an innovative ’torquebox’ that connects the passenger car monocoque of the Proton Persona sedan to a ladder type rear chassis. This construction gives the Jumbuck a stronger frame which helps it deal with a maximum payload of 570 kg. The vehicle was offered only with front wheel drive configuration and had a starting price of $15.490.
After it was brought by Renault, Dacia’s destiny has finally started to have a bright future. The first model launched under Renault’s ownership was the Logan.
With a small price tag and cheap costs of ownership, Dacia’s new budget car is sold in good numbers on the emergent markets. After seeing how surprisingly successful was the Logan sedan, Renault decided to extended the range and also came with an MPV, a Van and even a Pick-up version of its model.
The Dacia Logan Pick-up was launched in 2008 and was basically a Logan sedan with the rear end chopped off. The Logan Pick-up has a maximum payload capacity of 800 kg and its engines lineup includes two diesels and one petrol unit.
The Jeep Comanche was based on the Cherokee model and was sold between 1985 and 1992. The pickup truck was legendary for its sharp off road skills and for its bullet proof reliability.
The Comanche was available with both two wheel drive and four wheel drive configurations and came with two bed lengths measuring six-feet and seven-feet. At its time, the Comanche was the cheapest Jeep in the company’s lineup.
The vehicle was launched with a choice of three engines including the AMC 150 2.5 L, 150 CID I4, General Motors’s LR2 2.8 L V6 and the Renault 2.1 L I4 turbo diesel.
The final generation of the legendary D Series was rebadged as the Dodge Ram when Lee lacooca took charge of the Chrysler Corporation.
The Dodge Ram D Series was sold until 1993 when it was replaced by a completely redesigned Ram which shortly after became one of the best sold pickups in US.
The D Series range included three models, namely the D-150, D-250 and D-350. The vehicles were available with both single and double cabs with either short or long beds. Power options included a wide range of engines with the base unit being a 3.9 liter, followed by 5.2 and 5.9 liter V8s.
The last pickup developed entirely by Isuzu was sold on the US market back in the 90s, as all the following models were basically rebadged GM versions. The 1995 Isuzu Pickup was one of the most basic pickups that could’ve been found at that time on the market. The vehicle had a spartan interior and a stiff ride but it managed to deal well with arduous working conditions.
The Isuzu Pickup was offered in two configurations. The two-wheel-drive version is powered by a 2.3-liter, 100-horsepower engine, while the four-wheel-drive model comes with a 2.6-liter, 120-horsepower unit. There is only a single cab configuration available, but there were two bed lengths to choose from.
The Toyota T100 pickup was launched on the US market in 1992. It was the first full-sized pickup introduced in the United States and featured a full-size 8 feet bed.
The truck was slightly bigger than the Dodge Dakota, but was also smaller than other large pickups found on the market. Thanks to this fact, the T100 occupied its own position in the trucks hierarchy.
The Toyota T100 wasn’t offered with an Xtracab configuration and there was also no V8 option available in a time when every respectable full sized pickup truck was offered with such a strong unit under its hood. At the launch the only engine available was a 3.0 liter V6, but along the way there were added more units.
The Mitsubishi Raider was a small pickup truck sold on the US market. The vehicle was basically a rebadged Dodge Dakota with oversized fenders and a few other small modifications.
The Raider was among the first models sold by Mitsubishi on the US market, but it was never a best seller.
The vehicle was available in three configurations including Extended Cab 2WD, Double Cab 2WD and Double Cab 4WD. The five-passenger Extended Cab model has a 6.4-foot bed, and the Double Cab models come with a 5.3-foot bed.
Unlike the Dodge Dakota which comes with optional strong V8 engines, the Mitsubishi is available only with one 3.7 liter V6 engine which develops 210 Hp. At least Mitsubishi offers a five-year/60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, compared to Dodge’s three-year/36,000-mile comprehensive coverage. Though, Dodge still continues to remain on top, as it provided a lifetime warranty for the powertrain.
The bond between Isuzu and GM continues to be pretty strong and the companies still share rebadged trucks and pickups between them. Even is the success of this business isn’t brilliant and Isuzu’s rebadged i-Series pickup didn’t managed to conquer a lot of hearts, the companies are ready to move one.
Unfortunately, the Chevrolet W-Series medium seems to share the same bad karma with the Chevrolet T-Series whose unsuccessful lead to its premature death in 2009.
With only two months after the N Series was launched in Japan, Chevrolet introduced the W Series in US but shortly after, in January 2009 the American company decided to wind-down its medium-duty truck operations.
The Chevrolet W Series was offered with both single and crew cab configurations in Class 3 (W3500), Class 4 (W4500), Class 5 (W5500), and class 5 (W5500) versions.
Volkswagen has designed and built the Saveiro especially for the South American market. The vehicle was developed with a pretty small budget so don’t expect to the same quality as the European Volkswagen products.
Though, the Saveiro keeps many Volkswagen traits which make it a highly desirable pickup, such as reliability and strong build quality.
The Volkswagen Saveiro competes on the South American market with models like the Fiat Strada, Chevrolet Montana o or Ford Courier. It’s powered by a 1.6 liter four cylinder flex fuel engine capable of running on both gasoline and ethanol blends.
The vehicle is offered in three trim levels namely the Saveiro, Saveiro Trooper and Saveiro Cross (or Cavalier). The Volkswagen Saveiro is also available in both single and extended cab configurations with maximum payloads of 715 kg and 700 kg respectively.
The previous generation Chevrolet Montana (also known as the Tornado) was sold between 2004 and 2001 and was especially developed for the emergent markets, being mostly sold in the South America.
The small Montana offered the utility of a full-sized pickup and the comfort and maneuverability of regular a passenger car.
Given its utilitarian nature the 2004 Chevrolet Montana was also very efficient and its 30mpg on the highway attracted the interest of many buyers. The truck was also pretty practical and had a maximum payload capacity of 1600 pounds.
Under the 2004 Montana’s hood there is a 1.8-liter, inline-four-cylinder engine rated at 104 horsepower and 118 pounds-feet of torque.
General Motors has started to sell its T-Series trucks in 1998. The vehicles were based on the Isuzu’s F-Series medium duty range of trucks and shared the same design and technologies with their siblings.
The Chevrolet T-Series range consisted of three models namely the T6500, T7500 and T8500, all powered by a 7.8 liter Isuzu diesel engine. All Chevrolet T-Series trucks had a cab over engine configurations and were equipped with various Allison transmissions.
The Chevrolet T Series was sold until 2009 and came with GVM (gross vehicle mass) ratings between 24,350 lbs. to 39,000 lbs. and 4x4, 6x2 and 6x4 axle configurations.
Isuzu sold rebadged GM vehicles from some time now and one of the latest models launched by the company is the i-Series pickup which is based on the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. The vehicle is available in both single and double cab versions with either 4x2 or 4x4 configurations.
The i-Series is far from being among the best choices you can find in this segment as both its materials and build quality are behind average. The engines are also a half step behind models like the Toyota or Nissan, but the price is smaller than most if its rivals.
Though the competitive price strategy wasn’t enough to boost Isuzu’s sales and its i-Series was always at the bottom of the sales charts.
Judging by the poor sales recorded by Isuzu on the US market, it’s possible that the i-Series could be the last passenger car sold on this market.
With every year that passes, the big, gas eating North American Pickups are starting to fade due to their high costs of ownership. A more efficient alternative to these vehicles, could be the compact pickup trucks which are usually based on small passenger cars.
The Montana (also known as the Tornado) is part of this class and is sold by Chevrolet on the South American and other emergent markets. The vehicle is basically a two door ute which is built on the same platform as the Chevrolet Agile hatchback.
It’s clearly not as capable as its full sized siblings, but it has the same hard worker character as any other utility vehicle. The latest generation was launched in 2011 and the vehicle can deal with a maximum load of up to 734 kg.
Power comes from a 1.8L MPFI, 4-cilynder engine and pricing starts at $18,720 for the entry-level version.
Isuzu and GM work together from a pretty long time and one the models than was born from this relationship is the H-Series truck.
The H Series is built on the same chassis as the Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC Topkick. Isuzu’s truck is available as a medium duty Class 6, 7, and 8 truck. The H Series is also available in various GVW which range from 25,950 to 54,600 lbs.
Similarly with its siblings from GM, the H-Series also comes with both regular and crew cabs, but unlike its brothers it’s equipped with its own inline-6 turbodiesel engines.
Unlike other oversized pickup trucks, the GMC Topkick had a pretty long life span. The vehicle is basically a rebadged version of the Chevrolet Kodiak and was sold until 2009.
The Topkick pickup was a medium duty truck designed to be able to deal with those loads that were too heavy for a conventional pickup truck and its 6.6 liter V8 unit can tow up to 16.000 pounds.
The vehicle was modified in 2003, when it received a series of new features, some exterior changes and upgraded technologies. The new truck came with both 4x2 and 4x4 configurations and had a starting price of $55.000.
The Chevrolet Kodiak shared the same designed and technologies with the GMC Topkick and Isuzu H-Series and was commercialized between 1980 and 2009. The vehicle was designed as a medium duty truck used for utilitarian and commercial purposes.
The last generation was launched in 2003 and it was built on the new platform G-Platform.
The new model came with a bigger cab and was offered with both 4x2 and 4x4 configurations. Power comes from a 6.6-liter, 300-horsepower Duramax diesel V-8 and the base two wheel drive Kodiak starts at about $55,000.
The Chevrolet Kodiak has a maximum towing capacity of 16.000 pounds, plus the additional 5,500 lb. it can carry at the back.