Improved fuel economy, additional power, a comfortable ride, better front-seat comfort and an upscale interior helped impress owners. Compared to the competition, the F-150 offers the most capability in its class, whether it's for work or play. That's just one of the many reasons that's helped make the F-150 the best-selling vehicle in the country for 27 years in a row.

* Consumers Top Rated is a proprietary trademark of Edmunds.com, Inc.

One by one the contenders turned into pretenders. Hummer H3T, Suzuki Equator and Dodge Ram all gave it their best shot, but in the end Motor Trend gave the nod to the more capable, broader-reaching Ford F-150, 2009's Truck of the Year!

- The all-new 2009 Ford F-150 was just named 2009 North American Truck of the Year in Detroit. The North American Truck of the Year award recognizes vehicles based on innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar factors. Fifty automotive journalists in the United States and Canada vote for the vehicles. The models must be "all-new" or "substantially changed" from the previous year's model to qualify for the award.

It's predicted to have the segment's best residual value for the 2009 model year, earning the Residual Value Award from Automotive Leasing Guide (ALG). The California-based consulting and data-gathering firm predicts the 2009 F-150 will retain the highest percentage of its original price among 2009 full-size light-duty pickups at the end of a conventional three-year lease term.

- The all-new 2009 F-150 has been recognized as the one and only "Truck of Texas" by the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) - the sixth consecutive year a Ford truck has won top honors.
"This is high praise, especially the coveted "Truck of Texas" top prize," said Mark Fields, Ford's President of the Americas. "Texas Auto Writers are the toughest truck critics because they know firsthand and truly appreciate how core truck customers really use their pickups."