Motor trend names Ford F-150 2012 truck of the year

DEARBORN, Mich.Motor Trend, the world's automotive authority on cars, trucks and SUVs, today announced the Ford F-150 as the winner of its Motor Trend Truck of the Year Award® from Ford's world headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. Motor Trend's Editor-in-Chief, Edward Loh, presented the award to Ford's Executive Vice President Mark Fields and Group Vice President Derrick Kuzak.

 

After meticulous note taking, heated discussion and hours of driving, the 2012 Ford F-150 earned this year's honor because it was the truck that Motor Trend judges felt best met the award's six key criteria: engineering excellence, advancement in design, efficiency, safety, value, and performance of intended function. 

 

"The bottom line is that the F-150 simply excels at being… a truck. It mastered every task we subjected it to, acing our instrumented tests at the proving grounds and swaying opinions during our real-world road evaluations," said Loh. "In fact, our judges actually preferred the ride and performance of the F-150 when it was loaded with thousands of pounds of payload or saddled with a heavy trailer. It seemed the more we pushed the F-150, the better it performed."

 

Each year, the editorial staff of Motor Trend meets to evaluate its field of contenders for the Truck of the Year Award®. In a week-long process that includes a full complement of performance tests, both with and without payload, on straight-aways and twisty mountain roads, as well as in day-to-day driving, trucks are evaluated against six judging criteria, resulting in a final winner: