New models '19: Light

Aug. 8, 2018
Fleet Owner's compilation providing a look at 2019 light duty (Classes 1-3) trucks and vans.

Cue up an old Beach Boys song and wax that surfboard; there's a huge wave of activity coming on in commercial vehicles across Classes 1-8. No surprise, with sales of trucks and vans doing well for some time—particularly pickups and larger vans—and increasingly capable medium-duty trucks, which offer the advantage of not requiring a CDL to operate and thus a larger available driver pool.

Sales and orders on the Class 8 end have recently shot through the roof, but have enjoyed a strong showing in construction and vocational trucks for longer. Maybe that has also helped drive OEMs' continued investment in new vehicles and clever technology and equipment upgrades for existing ones. Several years of low fuel prices along with increasing needs to move more goods than ever probably haven't hurt, either.

Launch photo/ info slideshow: Light-duty models

Yet there's an interesting trend going on that's partly—and opposingly—being fueled by those strong sales of larger vehicles and growing transportation needs due to things like e-commerce. Roads are getting more crowded, and air and noise pollution are more sharply in focus as a quality of life issue.

Though largely ceremonial so far, nations and localities have been moving to do away eventually with diesel and perhaps all internal combustion engines. Suddenly and very noticeably, electric trucks and electric powertrain add-ons are sprinkled throughout these new models. And technology including fast-advancing automation and better, cheaper batteries clearly is helping electric power ride the surging wave of trucks.

Light Duty (Classes 1-3)

• Chevrolet

• Ford Motor Co.

• GMC

• Honda

• Mercedes-Benz / Freightliner

• Nissan Motor Co.

• Ram Trucks

• Toyota

• Workhorse Group

Go to New models '19: Medium-duty models (Classes 4-6)

Go to New models '19: Heavy-duty models (Classes 7-8)

About the Author

Aaron Marsh

Before computerization had fully taken hold and automotive work took someone who speaks engine, Aaron grew up in Upstate New York taking cars apart and fixing and rewiring them, keeping more than a few great jalopies (classics) on the road that probably didn't deserve to be. He spent a decade inside the Beltway covering Congress and the intricacies of the health care system before a stint in local New England news, picking up awards for both pen and camera.

He's written about you-name-it, from transportation and law and the courts to events of all kinds and telecommunications, and landed in trucking when he joined Fleet Owner in July 2015. Long an editorial leader, he's a keeper of knowledge at Fleet Owner ready to dive in on the technical and the topical inside and all around trucking—and still turns a wrench or two. Or three. 

And he's never without a camera, or so rumor has it.

About the Author

Josh Fisher | Editor-in-Chief

Editor-in-Chief Josh Fisher has been with FleetOwner since 2017, covering everything from modern fleet management to operational efficiency, artificial intelligence, autonomous trucking, regulations, and emerging transportation technology. He is based in Maryland. 

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