<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/trucks/" rel="tag">Truck</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/commercial-trucks/" rel="tag">Work</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/reviews/" rel="tag">Reviews</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/diesel/" rel="tag">Diesel</a></p><div style="text-align: left;"><em><big>Industry Giant Still Working Hard to Stay Ahead<br />
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</big><strong><small><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat/"><img vspace="4" hspace="0" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/lead1fordf450fd2011.jpg" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><small>2011 Ford F-450 Lariat - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></strong></em></div>
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Ask any economics professor - competition is a good thing. Exhibit A? The large pickup truck market. <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/ford/">Ford</a> F-Series trucks have been the number-one selling vehicle line in the United States for more than three decades, but the automaker has never grown complacent. Each new iteration has been bigger, badder and more capable than its predecessor, and that goes twofold for Dearborn's heavy-duty models.<br />
<br />
Despite the fact that <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/toyota/">Toyota</a> and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/nissan/">Nissan</a> never followed up their light-duty trucks with three-quarter or one-ton models, just the threat of such entries spurred Ford, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/gm/">General Motors</a> and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/dodge/">Dodge</a> to significantly up their games. In the first half of 2010, the Detroit Three have introduced revamped heavy-duty pickups to feed a segment that, while shrinking, remains large and highly profitable. With that in mind, we saddled up to the Big Daddy of the F-Series range, the F-450, to see if the behemoth could play the dual roles of load-lugger and daily ride. Click through the jump to see how we fared.<br />
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<div class="postgallery"><p><strong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat">Review: 2011 Ford F-450 Lariat</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/01fordf450fd2011_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/02fordf450fd2011_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/03fordf450fd2011_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/04fordf450fd2011_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/05fordf450fd2011_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br />
<strong><em><font size="1">Photos copyright (C)2010 Sam Abuelsamid / AOL</font></em></strong><p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/15/2011-ford-f-450-lariat-review-road-test/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Review: 2011 Ford F-450 Lariat</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/15/2011-ford-f-450-lariat-review-road-test/">Review: 2011 Ford F-450 Lariat</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblog</a> on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:57:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/15/2011-ford-f-450-lariat-review-road-test/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19630537/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/15/2011-ford-f-450-lariat-review-road-test/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>
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<br />
</big><strong><small><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat/"><img vspace="4" hspace="0" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/lead1fordf450fd2011.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
</small></strong></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><small>2011 Ford F-450 Lariat - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></strong></em></div>
<br />
Ask any economics professor - competition is a good thing. Exhibit A? The large pickup truck market. <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/ford/">Ford</a> F-Series trucks have been the number-one selling vehicle line in the United States for more than three decades, but the automaker has never grown complacent. Each new iteration has been bigger, badder and more capable than its predecessor, and that goes twofold for Dearborn's heavy-duty models.<br />
<br />
Despite the fact that <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/toyota/">Toyota</a> and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/nissan/">Nissan</a> never followed up their light-duty trucks with three-quarter or one-ton models, just the threat of such entries spurred Ford, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/gm/">General Motors</a> and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/dodge/">Dodge</a> to significantly up their games. In the first half of 2010, the Detroit Three have introduced revamped heavy-duty pickups to feed a segment that, while shrinking, remains large and highly profitable. With that in mind, we saddled up to the Big Daddy of the F-Series range, the F-450, to see if the behemoth could play the dual roles of load-lugger and daily ride. Click through the jump to see how we fared.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="postgallery"><p><strong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat">Review: 2011 Ford F-450 Lariat</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/01fordf450fd2011_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/02fordf450fd2011_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/03fordf450fd2011_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/04fordf450fd2011_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2011-ford-f-450-lariat/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/05fordf450fd2011_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br />
<strong><em><font size="1">Photos copyright (C)2010 Sam Abuelsamid / AOL</font></em></strong><p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/15/2011-ford-f-450-lariat-review-road-test/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Review: 2011 Ford F-450 Lariat</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/15/2011-ford-f-450-lariat-review-road-test/">Review: 2011 Ford F-450 Lariat</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblog</a> on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:57:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/15/2011-ford-f-450-lariat-review-road-test/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19630537/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/15/2011-ford-f-450-lariat-review-road-test/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>
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