Everything Is Bigger In Texas, Including Its Automotive Press Awards

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

The Texas Auto Writers Association said Tuesday that the new, diesel-powered Nissan Titan XD was the 2015 Texas Truck of the Year and the Ford F-Series won Truck Line of Texas, alongside 22 other awards in a bi-annual affair held on non-consecutive Sundays until an eventual winner is crowned after a round-robin, double-elimination playoff.

The award for the Titan XD is the first for the truck, which will go on sale in December. Texas auto writers awarded the Ram 2500 with best heavy-duty pickup, Ram 1500 Rebel as the best full-size pickup and the new Toyota Tacoma as the best mid-size pickup.

According to the association, 69 writers voted on 24 awards.

Volvo’s XC90 won best luxury crossover and was awarded CUV of Texas.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles netted the most awards by any automaker with eight total awards including best mid-size SUV for the 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel.

The Titan XD won best luxury pickup and best off-roading pickup, albeit in two different trims.

The Texas Auto Writers Association will meet again in March to hand out 19 more awards.

Hi all,

I’m sorry, but I need to say something about this.

There was a time when the TAWA Truck Rodeo was almost respectable. Now? TAWA has completely lost the plot when it comes to testing and awarding automakers for their efforts.

How is it that an organization with 69 voting members at an event can come up with 24 different awards?

Well, a lot of it comes down to many of those award segments only having two or three competitors.

Specifically, four categories — Mid-Size Sport Utility Vehicles, Compact Luxury Sport Utility Vehicles, Mid-Size Luxury Sport Utility Vehicles and Off-Road Utility Vehicles — had only two competitors. For these, you could have easily given the award based on a coin flip.

An additional six categories — Full-Size Crossover Utility Vehicles, Compact Sport Utility Vehicles, Full-Size Sport Utility Vehicles, Full-Size Luxury Sport Utility Vehicles, Mid-Size Pickup Trucks and Heavy Duty Pickup Trucks — had just three competitors.

Not only that, but there are three awards that literally nobody will use to make a purchasing decision: Best Powertrain Award, Best Technology Award and Best Connectivity Award.

And Truck Line of Texas? How could this tidbit of information ever be used when making a purchasing decision?

What’s missing? Nothing about the most capable truck, nor one that’s best for towing, hauling, or just getting work done. Instead, the Truck Rodeo is now nothing but an exercise in bestowing automakers with jewelry they can later advertise over regional and national radio and television.

Not to take anything away from Nissan and their fine, fine, fine pickup — but Texas, you can do better than this.

— Mark

Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • VoGo VoGo on Oct 13, 2015

    Any idea how much this award cost Nissan?

  • Zip89123 Zip89123 on Oct 13, 2015

    The BS is bigger in Texass too. How can the Titan possibly be the TOTY when Nissan has only sold NONE?

    • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Oct 13, 2015

      zip89105 - They have a history of giving awards to trucks that aren't on the market. 2014 - A 2015 F150 won that one even before they were on the streets. 2013 - A 2014 Ram Ecodiesel won and it had not been released to the public.

  • Joe This is called a man in the middle attack and has been around for years. You can fall for this in a Starbucks as easily as when you’re charging your car. Nothing new here…
  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
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