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2015 Ford F-150 named Truck of Texas, Lincoln and Jeep also awarded at Truck Rodeo

The Ford Motor Company has a lot of reasons to celebrate after winning eight categories in this year's Texas Auto Writers Association's annual Truck Rodeo. Most important among them, the Blue Oval's latest 2015 Ford F-150 earned the prestigious Truck of Texas award, ending the Ram 1500's two-year winning streak. The 2015 Lincoln MKC also grabbed the honor as the CUV of Texas, and Ford was named Truck Line of Texas.
FoMoCo even took trophies for best technology with its extensive use of aluminum on its latest F-Series and best commercial vehicle for the new Transit 250. It wasn't a total sweep, though, because the Jeep Grand Cherokee grabbed the title of the SUV of Texas for the fifth straight time.
This year's event put 60 auto writers in 75 pickups, SUVs and crossovers and challenged them to find the best in a plethora of categories. All of the winners are listed below, and scroll down to read the full announcements from the Texas Auto Writers Association and Ford.

Texas student drives Barbie Jeep to school after DWI

A Texas college student who lost her license when she was charged with a DWI this spring found a creative way of getting around campus. Tara Monroe, 20, is a student at the University of Texas at Austin. She had her driver's license automatically suspended when she refused a breathalyzer test after leaving a Waka Flocka concert on March 4. He dad took her car away and left her with a bike. But that just wasn't classy enough for Monroe. "Riding a bike around campus sucks," she told MySA.com. "Like really sucks." She searched Craigslist to find an alternative and settled on a bright pink Fisher-Price Barbie Jeep Power Wheel toy to help lug her stuff around campus. She named it after the original owner, a little girl named Charlene. The unorthodox ride has turned Monroe into a minor celebrity. Pictures of her slowly making her way around campus in the toy car have been popping up on social media. "This is the best way I could have gotten my 15 minutes of fame," she said. "Basically, it was the best decision I've made in college, yet..." The Barbie Jeep has a 12-volt battery and only goes about five miles per hour. Monroe says she loves the attention she is getting from her immature hijinks. If you enjoy the sight of adults crammed into Power Wheels check out our attempt to cruise around the Autoblog office in a tike-sized Ford F-150. News Source: mySA.com Humor Weird Car News Jeep Driving Electric Videos college power wheels student barbie

FCA and UAW deal could mean huge production shakeups

The big labor contract between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the United Auto Workers is likely to lead to some very serious production shakeups across the company's North American manufacturing operations. That's according to a new report from Automotive News, which details the sweeping changes at no fewer than five production facilities in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Mexico, and Poland. So without further ado, here's what's going where, presented in easy to digest bullet form. Ram 1500 production would move from Warren, MI to Sterling Heights, MI Warren, MI would be retooled for unibody production and would handle the Jeep Grand Wagoneer and could potentially build Grand Cherokees to ease the strain on Detroit's Jefferson North factory Chrysler 200 production would move from Sterling Heights, MI to Toluca, Mexico Dodge Dart production would move from Belvidere, IL to Toluca, Mexic Fiat 500 production, which is currently handled by Toluca, would be concentrated in Poland, where the Euro-spec Cinquecento is built Jeep Cherokee production would move from Toledo, OH to Belvidere, IL to make room for Wrangler and Wrangler Pickup production Like we said, those are some big changes. But, as FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said in an earlier interview with Automotive News, this kind of shakeup would make a lot of sense. In that August interview the exec said that automakers moved truck production to Mexico because they were "threatened" by the UAW. "The only thing [the UAW] want is to move the truck back. Which is right. If you move the truck back here, which is [the UAW's] domain, [and move] all the cars that we get killed on somewhere else, we could actually make sense of this bloody industry and actually increase the number of people employed in this country and really share wealth because we are making money," Marchionne told AN. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Sergio Marchionne FCA toluca warren sterling heights