GM FYI Blog

By Donna McLallen
Assistant Regional Manager, Communications/Public Relations

GM wrangled top honors at the recent 2007 Texas Truck Rodeo in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.

The Texas Truck Rodeo began as an opportunity for members of the Texas Auto Writers Association to experience competing trucks and SUVs side-by-side in both on-road and off-road conditions. Over three days each October, some 50 journalists judge vehicles in various categories and vote for winners.

This was my second Truck Rodeo. When I first heard of it, I pictured dueling vehicles competing in Monster Truck fashion, chained together in a tug-of-war or slugging through deep ponds of mud in contests to see which truck is the toughest in the land. Alas, the competition is much cleaner and tamer, but fun nonetheless as journalists hop from truck to truck to register their highest approval amongst the field of competition.

You still get the cowboy rodeo vibe, though, with the competition staged each year at a rural dirt track and cowboy cuisine served at mealtimes. And it’s interesting to see not only the Texas Auto Writers in cowboy hats, jeans and boots, but also out-of-state manufacturing representatives — many of whom wouldn’t know a cow patty from a hamburger — all decked out in western wear, right down to large, shiny, buckles on their new leather belts.

A highlight of the weekend was a special appearance by GM’s own Bob Lutz, who introduced the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid. TAWA President Harold Gunn invited Bob to the event, and he spent the day visiting with the Texas journalists, riding the course with them and answering questions about the company and products.

There were more than 60 trucks and SUVs from major auto manufacturers competing in 12 categories. GM placed entries in nine vehicle categories, received top honors in five and placed in the top three of eight. In addition, GM won two of the three highest Rodeo honors – Truck Manufacturer of Texas and SUV of Texas.

GM results were:

• Full Size SUV: Chevy Tahoe Hybrid

• Mid Size SUV: HUMMER H3 Alpha
• Full Size Luxury SUV: Cadillac Escalade
• Mid Size Crossover SUV: GMC Acadia
• Full Size Pickup: GMC Sierra Denali
• Truck of Texas (pickup): Chevy Silverado 1500 (2nd), GMC Sierra Denali (3rd)
• Compact Crossover SUV: Saturn VUE (2nd)
• Luxury Pickup: Cadillac Escalade EXT (2nd)
• Heavy Duty Pickup: Silverado 2500 (2nd), Sierra 3500 (3rd)

The entire GM Texas Team is proud as punch over the results from this year’s Texas Truck Rodeo and wanted to share the good news with all our customers, co-workers and supporters.