I'm intrigued by the and , both because they're a return to a truck America should be building and because they seem like a good value. The just announced fuel economy numbers for both trucks seem to support my inkling that these might be the right-sized trucks for American consumers.

Specifically, the Colorado and Canyon V6 models will offer 18/21/26 (city/combined/highway) in 2WD trim and 17/20/24 if you opt for 4WD. By comparison, the V6 offerings from Nissan and Toyota with automatics only get 18/16/22 at best (Frontier 2WD).

More impressively, the GM trucks are large and have V6s with actual power as opposed to the relatively anemic and old offerings in both those trucks. The prospect of a turbodiesel 2.8-liter is even more enticing.

How'd they do it? The newer engine has direct fuel injection and is mated to a transmission with an actual sixth gear (thus the much better highway mileage) like any car with an auto should have in this decadde. There's also active grille shutters and, I'm guessing, a more aero friendly design.

While the Colorado/Canyon aren't Prii, you're getting a midsize truck that's awfully close to a fullsize offering but at a discount price. Andrew is driving it soon so we'll see if it lines up with expectations.