The arrival of the GM mid-size pickup twins, the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, may spark a new-found interest in the segment. GM correctly realized that not every truck buyer wants or needs a full-size offering. Sorry that not everyone is from Texas, Ford. Anyway, last fall the Ram 700 was revealed to fairly little media attention. It may just be a rebadged Fiat Strada compact pickup, but it was something of an indicator of Ram's future product intentions.

For the time being the Ram 700 is geared towards the South American market (it's also built in Brazil), but the truck maker hasn't ruled out a reborn Dakota pickup for the US. Ram has just announced that it'll reveal a new model at this year's Chicago Auto Show later this month, but don't expect it to be that new Dakota. More than likely, it'll be the facelifted Ram 1500. That's fine and all but again, not everyone wants or needs a full-size pickup. Both GM and Toyota get this. Heck, so does Nissan. We'd love it if Ram did too.