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Pickups, for years, have been the best-selling vehicle in the United States. But recently released year-to-date sales are showing that overall, pickup truck sales have fallen this year. Sales for the Nissan Titan have dropped more than 9% this year. In September of 2006, more than 6,000 Titans were sold. This past September, sales barely beat the 5,000 mark. Chevrolet's Colorado and Ford's Ranger are faring far worse. Sales for the Ford Ranger are down more than 20% over this time last year. September sales for this year are down by 43% compared to 2006. Chevy's Colorado is down more than 18% in overall sales for the year and even sales for the popular Chevy Silverado are down nearly 2%. Nissan's suffering as well with an 18% drop YTD (year-to-date) with the Frontier, and GMC's Sierra is barely holding on to market share with a 1.6% drop in sales over last year. This can be alarming for some people looking for a car, van, or SUV but most buyers agree that the risk far outweighs the reward.

On the flip side, Dodge's Ram is holding steady*actually up one percent over last year and has sold more than 500 more Rams in September '07 than it sold in September 2006. Toyota's also doing well. Even though sales for the Tacoma were down by almost 3,000 vehicles this past September compared to the September prior, year-to-date sales of the pickup are up by 1.2%. Tacoma's sleek older brother the Tundra is doing exceptionally well, up more than 50% over last year.

So why are the sales of certain companies on the decline while others are holding steady or shooting toward the stars? It could have to do with the minor improvements made in safety features to last year's pickups. Since safety has shown in multiple studies to be a "very important consideration" among consumers of automotive vehicles-- and to those who bought pickup trucks specifically-- companies that have upgraded safety equipment seem to be garnering favor.

Isuzu is one of these companies. Isuzu's i-290 offers advanced safety features like Dual-Stage Airbags, an airbag suppression system, a Four-Wheel Anti-Lock Braking System, Tire Pressure Monitoring System, Daytime Running Lights, and Child Seat Lower- and Top-Tether Anchors for those with young children. The bigger i-370 includes similar features as the i-290, but also offers Head-Curtain Side-Impact Airbags, a Day/Night Auto-Dimming Rearview Mirror, Electronic Traction Control, Shift-On-The-Fly 4-Wheel Drive, and Automatic Locking Rear Differential. The i-370 sports all of these features in both the Extended and Crew Cab models.

The 2006 Toyota Tacoma also performed well in crash tests, proving its worth. With a "G" rating (the highest of four possible ratings) in six out of seven categories, according to IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety), it certainly deserves to be mentioned along with the Isuzu i-290 and i-370.

In addition to active and passive safety features, comprehensive roadside assistance programs are now being considered as a valuable part of a vehicle purchase. Isuzu offers one of the best roadside assistance packages available. It offers free roadside assistance for up to 7 years or 75,000 miles.