If there’s a common theme running through the 2016 model review on the following pages, it would be about building trucks that offer more capability, more efficiency, and more simplicity.
For an example of capability, look no further than Ford’s revamped 2016 Transit fullsize van. By adding dual sliding side cargo doors as an option, customers can now choose from 58 different configurations for the Transit versus 47 offered for the previous version.
A look at the 2016 New Models
When the topic of greater efficiency is discussed, truck owners usually focus on fuel economy, and there is certainly no shortage of fuel-saving options in the 2016 model mix.
From a fuel-sipping small-block diesel engine option for GM’s midsize Canyon and Colorado pickups, crafting soup-to-nuts fuel economy Class 8 specs such as Navistar’s International ProStar ES package, or adding precise software solutions such as Allison Transmission’s FuelSense package to boost medium-duty fuel economy, efficiency is a watchword throughout the truck class spectrum.
Then there’s simplicity: a trait becoming ever-more valued to not only make the work life of today’s commercial drivers easier and safer, but also make their trucks easier to upfit and maintain.
More automated manual transmissions and fully automatic gearboxes are being offered; more comfortable and ergonomic cab interiors are available; and more work is being done on the assembly line to ensure holes in the chassis don’t need to be drilled for body wiring harnesses.
Whether it’s offering factory-installed strobe lights, such as what Ford is doing for some of its medium-duty units, or thicker steering wheel options and Bluetooth connectivity built right into Autocar’s vocational Class 7 and 8 models, OEMs are trying to make things simpler for the end user across a wide array of truck attributes.
Capability, efficiency and simplicity. It’s the mantra OEMs followed to design and produce their 2016 models, and it will assuredly be the mantra for their future truck-making endeavors as well.
