By buying Chrysler, GM also prevents its fairly successful minivan and pickup business from falling into a competitor's hands.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Meantime, Chrysler is still deliberating returning to the midsize pickup business.

WSJ: Fuel Prices Spur Rethink of Small Pickups

But in the second stage of recovery, which is what I believe is unfolding now, and which will dominate through 2010, you will see a demand pickup in both the business and consumer sectors.

FORBES

At the same time, a pickup in personal consumption does feed business sentiment and could lead to increased activity.

FORBES: Consumption Picks Up In July Indicating Lower Risk Of Deflation

But company officials grew uneasy with the business strategy for the Dodge M-80 pickup it was to produce and pulled the plug.

FORBES: Saving Chrysler

Last year, he bought a used 2005 F350 Super Duty turbo diesel pickup to use for his landscape business in Fort Myers, Florida.

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Sales of highly profitable pickup trucks are tightly correlated with housing starts, while buoyant business travel boosts demand from car-rental firms.

ECONOMIST: General Motors' IPO

He was working for a small contractor who had seen his business collapse after the housing bubble burst, and now was seeing a significant pickup in his work around this notion.

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