RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
But as Dustin Dwyer of Michigan Radio reports, the real kings of the roads are still gas-guzzling pickup trucks.
DUSTIN DWYER: Auto sales analyst Rebecca Lindland of Global Insights says these trucks are still incredibly popular.
MONTAGNE: They're still a huge percentage of the market, you know, and they're a huge percentage of their financial performance also. And it's an American icon.
DWYER: And perhaps the most iconic of them all is the Ford F-150 pickup. For 31 years straight, the Ford F series has been the top-selling vehicle in the country. Yesterday in Detroit, Ford unveiled its latest F-150. The new truck comes with a beefier front grille, and Ford says it's loaded with a whole slew of new features like a fold-out step to make it easier to climb into the bed of the truck.
MONTAGNE: Pull it out. Let out the step.
DWYER: Matt O'Leary is the chief engineer of this new pickup. He says to keep its lead in sales, Ford is trying to anticipate what truck buyers want before they know they want it.
MONTAGNE: Customers didn't tell us they wanted the tailgate step. We just know from looking at them that there are people who like to get up into the box and don't like just crawling up on the back of the tailgate and getting up, and especially if you're carrying something, right; it gives you a lot more flexibility.
DWYER: Yesterday Dodge's parent, Chrysler, hired a team of cattle ranchers from Oklahoma to herd 120 longhorn steer through downtown Detroit. Chrysler's Jim Press was at the mic as the herd parted to make way for the new Dodge Ram.
MONTAGNE: Ladies and gentlemen, here it is, the full-size pickup that separates Dodge from the herd. The new 2009 Dodge Ram.
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DWYER: Now he says a hybrid Dodge Ram could have a more significant impact on the environment than the Toyota Prius.
MONTAGNE: If you look at the CO2 emissions or the fuel use, which vehicle uses more, a little car or a big truck? Big truck does. So we're actually saving a lot more per mile driven than on a small car, which is a marginal save.
DWYER: Press said the hybrid engine would improve the Ram's fuel efficiency by 40 percent. That means the truck would get roughly the same mileage as a four-door car. That could give truck fans one more reason to buy. But in the short-term, analyst Rebecca Lindland says she expects truck sales to drop 10 percent this year, as gas prices remain high and the housing market continues to stall.
MONTAGNE: Really tough market to come into, but they don't really have a choice. They just have to make the best of it.
DWYER: For NPR News, I'm Dustin Dwyer in Detroit.