Things have definitely changed. Today’s drivers have plenty of choices, from basic work trucks designed to haul cargo to option-filled trucks that rival a luxury sedan.So how do you choose the right pickup truck? One way to get started is to take some time to analyze your wants and needs.

Compact trucks are smaller in scale than full size trucks.They can usually tow up to about 3,000 pounds, a weight that accommodates many trailer and boat towing tasks. If you have heavier towing needs, move up to a mid-size or full size truck.

Mid-size pickups can be closer in size to a compact or to a full-size truck. Comparing trucks on dealer lots is the best way to understand how they compare to each other in exterior and interior size.

Engine Choices

You’ll find four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines in compact trucks. Full-size trucks offer more variety, with six-cylinders, V8s, V10s and diesels.

Drivetrain Options

Most of the trucks on the market are available with either a manual or automatic transmission and your choice of 2WD or 4WD. You’ll find many trucks offer limited-slip or locking differentials and electronic traction control. Safety options are becoming increasingly popular on new pickup trucks.

There are several truck cab styles, so you should be able to find one that suits your seating needs.

• A standard cab truck has one bench or two bucket seats–no second row seating and (usually) no substantial storage behind the seats.
• An extended cab truck has jump seats or a bench seat in back. Be sure to sit in the back while someone else drives the vehicle so that you have a feel for its seating comfort.
  • Extended cabs provide extra space to carry groceries or other packages behind the first row — out of the weather and locked up for security.
• A crew cab truck has full second row seating, with 4-doors that swing open towards the front. Crew cabs are gaining in popularity as more and more people use pickup trucks as their primary vehicle.

Tata Motors Ltd., India’s biggest Truck and bus maker, will invest 1.3 billion baht ($43 million) in a Thai factory to produce pickup trucks as part of the company’s strategy of overseas expansion.

“This will go mainly towards equipment for the assembly facility,” Ajit Venkataraman, chief executive officer of the Thai unit said in a statement today in Bangkok. “We expect to roll out the pickup trucks in 2008.”

Tata is expanding in Thailand as economic growth spurs demand for vehicles. Tata will compete with Isuzu Motors Ltd., the biggest maker of Pickup Trucks in the country. The plant has the capacity to build 35,000 trucks a year, Tata Motors said.

The venture is owned 70 percent by Tata Motors and 30 percent by Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant Co. Tata’s Managing Director Ravi Kant said in December last year that the unit will produce 30,000 units annually after three years.

Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy expanded 4.9 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier, compared with a 4.3 percent gain in the second quarter, the government said Monday.

New vehicle sales in Thailand, Southeast Asia’s biggest automobile market, rose 3.3 percent in the third quarter, rebounding from a 6.4 percent drop in the previous three months, according to Toyota Motor Corp.’s Thai unit.

The groundbreaking deal in U.S. Congress to raise mile-per-gallon standards will compel the auto industry to churn out more fuel-efficient vehicles on a faster timeline than the companies wanted, though with flexibility to get the job done.

The auto industry’s fleet of new cars, sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and vans will have to average 35 mpg (6.7 L/100km) by 2020, according to the agreement that congressional negotiators announced late Friday. That compares with the 2008 requirement of 27.5 mpg (8.5 L/100 km) average for cars and 22.5 mpg (10.7 L/100 km) for light trucks. It would be first increase ordered by Congress in three decades.

Majority Democrats plan to include the requirement in broader energy legislation to be debated in the context of $90 (U.S.)-per-barrel oil, $3-plus pump prices and growing concerns about climate change. The House plans to begin debate this week.

“It is a major milestone and the first concrete legislation to address global warming,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

Environmentalists have sought stricter mileage standards for years, saying that is the most effective way to curb greenhouse gas emissions and oil consumption.

The energy bill will help accelerate plans by automakers to bring more fuel-efficient technologies to conventional engines and alternatives such as gas-electric hybrids and vehicles running on ethanol blends. For the first time, for example, manufacturers will receive credits for building vehicles running on biodiesel fuel.

Domestic automakers and Toyota Motor Corp. vehemently opposed a Senate bill approved passed in June that contained the same mileage requirements and timeline. They warned the measure would limit the choice of vehicles, threaten jobs and drive up costs.

The companies backed an alternative of 32 mpg (7.3 L/100 km) to 35 mpg (6.7 L/100 km) by 2022. At the time, Chrysler LLC executive Tom LaSorda told employees the Senate bill would “add up to a staggering $6,700 – almost a 40 per cent increase – to the cost of every Chrysler vehicle.”

But the compromise worked out by Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate leaders, maintains a significant boost in mileage standards while giving the industry more flexibility and certainty as they plan new vehicles.

The proposal would continue separate standards for cars and Trucks, extend credits for producing vehicles that run on ethanol blends, and allow automakers to receive separate credits for exceeding the standards and then apply those credits to other model years.

Michigan lawmakers secured an extension of the current 1.2 mpg credit for the production of each “flexible fuel” vehicle, capable of running on ethanol blends of 15 per cent gasoline and 85 per cent ethanol. Without the extension, the credits may have run out by 2010, but under the deal, they will be phased out by 2020.

The United Auto Workers union also won a provision intended to prevent companies from shifting production of less profitable small cars to overseas plants. At stake are an estimated 17,000 jobs.

The House’s energy bill, approved in August, did not include mileage standards, and lawmakers had worked since then to include them.

Rick Wagoner, General Motors Corp.’s chairman and chief executive, said the new rules would “pose a significant technical and economic challenge to the industry.” He said GM would tackle the changes “with an array of engineering, research and development resources.”

GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. have announced plans to double their production by 2010 of flex-fuel vehicles. Toyota has said it will bring the option to the Tundra pickup.

Among hybrids, Toyota has dominated the market with the Prius, but several automakers are beginning to bring the technology to large SUVs and pickups.

Environmental groups estimate the deal would save the country 1.2 million barrels of oil per day by 2020 while helping motorists save at the pump.

“Cars are going to be more attractive to consumers because they won’t cost as much to own and operate,” said David Doniger, director of the climate center for the Natural Resources Defense Council.