Well, the February '08 year-to-date sales numbers are out . . .

 . . . and the results aren't pretty. Overall, pickup truck sales are down slightly more than 9% from this same period last year. However, there were some silver linings amid the dark clouds, and here are 2008's winners and losers in dealer showrooms thus far, based on info we've gleaned from our homies at pickuptruck.com:

Winner: Ford. The Blue Oval's truck sales were only down 6.5%---which is kinda like saying their sales sucked less than anyone else's---but the big news was a resurgent Ranger, which actually registered a major sales gain over a year ago. With the demand for smaller vehicles on the upswing, and gas prices hovering in the mid-threes (we're shelling out $3.49 for 87-octane around the L.A. home office), d'ya think Ford might, just might, consider re-launching this thing one of these years? It's only been, what, like 50 years since the last redesign.  

Loser: GM (sigh). Despite launching a brand new fullsize, the General's Silverado, Sierra, and midsize Colorado pickups are all down sharply from the same time last year. Time to bring back Bob Seger?

Winner: Toyota. Tundra sales, while below Toyota's annual projections, are still healthy, and while the Tacoma midsize was down too, it's still selling twice as many vehicles than any other truck in its segment. In addition, the '08 Tundra was recently named "Truck of the Year" by the prestigious agribusiness journal Farm Industry News. Brubaker is schooling his colleagues at the Midwest Bureau as we speak. 

Loser: Nissan. Frontier sales are lagging, and Titan sales are waaay down (35%). Looks like a Toyota factor could be at play here.

Grand Prize Winner: The Ranger, and not a minute too soon. Word to Bill Ford: Please, please, please don't kill this puppy.

Booby Prize: Dodge Dakota. What can you say when you re-launch your midsize for 2008 with a new suspension, new sheetmetal, a new interior, and a class-leading 300hp V-8 underhood, and you still get outsold by the Honda Ridgeline? Then again, it's only the first week in March, so the Dodge has got plenty of time to catch up.  

So, is anybody out there in the market for a new pickup? We'd guess you'll be looking at more incentives and rebate offers than ever in the coming months, if that's any consolation for $100 fill-ups.