On more than one occasion, we’ve heard pickup truck fanatics express their dissatisfaction with the state of the compact pickup truck segment in the U.S. and Canada: today’s offerings are either too big, too expensive, or too inefficient. That’s why – being the ultimate GM fans that we are – GM’s next-generation small pickup trucks are of great importance and interest to us.

The going rumor these days has it that GM’s next-gen compact trucks will return to their condensed roots. This means that we should expect something along the lines of a Chevy S10 (GMC S-15). These vehicles will most likely be considerably different that the present-day orado/Sierra counterparts, delivering less capability, conspicuously better gas mileage, and a starting price of roughly $15,000 (or even less).

But the ultimate question, however, is whether these new compact trucks should stick with the proven body-on-frame (BOF) design (like the present-day Colorado) or switch to a unibody architecture (like the Honda Ridgeline). Continue reading.