A-BAT project

[keezer37]

Not my cup of tea but...
single guy, single girl, young family, weekend warrior (outdoors or home project), teen. Any vehicle that can serve more than one purpose and appeal to him and her has potential to be a hit.

Most people shopping for a vehicle are not considering the feasibility of mounting a winch or if they'll be making a snorkel for it anytime soon.
Remember, this whole expedition thing is the niche. Ninety-eight percent of the US is at the mall stocking up for their next garage sale.

 

[RR1]

I can not understand car based "trucks."

If you want a car, buy a car. I you need a truck then buy a real truck, that can do work. Not a wagon with an open back.

Utes are quite successful Down-unda'. With current fuel prices and the fuel standards coming down the road,don't see why it wouldn't be successful. Heck I'll bet more than half of the fully kitted rigs on here rarely get off a graded gravel road.

 

[RR1]

Agreed, just about every vehicle has it's place and purpose, and some aren't being utilized for their purposes. But for those of us that do travel harsh terrain something in this category just wouldn't suffice. I don't think forcing fuel standards is a valid reason to replace trucks just yet. When the technology can deliver the power, package, and price, offering a good alternative, we'll probably see more offroaders buying into these concepts.

The utes look pretty functional, and I've seen sedan's with snorkels and winches conquering some terrain (http://www.rs25.com/forums/f135/t160960-snorkel-under-100-a.html)

But for now I just couldn't consider...

Sure a Ute or a "Trar" is what I call the car based trucks, wouldn't work for my lifestyle either, but we are a small slice of the overall market share.

I am hoping that with the new fuel standards that we see some small diesels here for our light trucks...only time will tell.

 

[haven]

Pickuptrucks.com adds another piece to the puzzle with speculation about where the A-BAT unibody pickup will be built.

Toyota recently announced a plan to expand production in its Ontario, Canada plant where the RAV4 is made. Plant capacity will increase from 150 to 200 thousand units annually. The stated goal is to reduce the number of RAV4 models that have to be imported from Japan. But RAV4 sales are down, compared to last year.

Pickuptrucks.com says the extra production capacity will be used to make the small A-BAT pickup. The mini truck will probably be marketed in North America as a Scion model.