Well well well....here's an interesting spin on the Car & Truck of the year awards. The HHR and Explorer take top honors. Even more interestingly, the Civic doesn't make the top 3 for cars and the Ridgeline is not considered for the Truck award.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2005512220470

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2005512220544

 

Furthermore, GM classifies the HHR as a truck

 

Wow... interesting. So the HHR is OK to be classified as a truck but the Ridgeline isn't?

 

Well, that isn't right either.

 

Let's make no bones about it. HHR (and PT Cruiser) are classified as trucks to help in the overall fuel economy numbers for trucks. It's simply a CAFE game.

Honda on the other hand reaaaaaally wants you to believe it's a truck.

 

The EPA classifies the Ridgeline as a truck too. The basic criteria (if it doesn't have a box) is that the rear seats fold flat to provide a flat storage area.

It's basically a ploy to improve a carmaker's CAFE (fuel economy) numbers and give them the freedom to produce more of the vehicles customers want. By classifying the high mileage PTC as a "truck", it allows DCX to sell more of the fuel thirsty Hemi pickups and still meet their overall average.

BTW, in addition to the HHR and PTC mentioned above, the Dodge Magnum is also considered a truck for CAFE purposes.

 

Thats a pretty clever way to up the overall numbers I guess.

 

cool! I was just thinking that the HHR would be a good candidate for car of the year.

 

I believe another advantage for the "truck" classification is that deep tint can be used on the rear (behind the "b" pillar) glass. IIRC Subaru juggled some of their classifications so they could use the deep tint customers were asking for on wagons.

I don't know how this "Car and Truck of the Year" program works but one of the things that makes the results somewhat useless is the rule that "only new or substantially revised" vehicles are elligible.

 

The Magnum is also classified as a truck.

The criteria, as I read it, either by DCX or the EPA, is the flat load floor/area.

That's a big gray area, sin't it?

 

The Magnum is more truck than the ridgeline by my standards..

 

Odd standards since the mag doesn't have a bed or a BOF chassis at all like the ridgeline does.

 

I'd bet good money that Maximum Bob Lutz is having a good laugh at the expense of those that wanted to look at "research" and clinics on the HHR..

Way to go BOB.. now steamroll that Camaro to the market..

 

Not according to http://www.chevrolet.com/cars/ HHR is a car

 

Since when have trucks and Honda been synonomous?

Yeah, the thought still escapes me... even after the MT TOTY award...