Cadillac Escalade EXT is designed to give drivers an alternative to owning an SUV and a truck. It comes with full-time four-wheel drive, five-passenger seating, a spacious interior and the unmatched cargo space of a full pick-up bed. Thanks to GM's Midgate it can be quickly converted from a people hauler to a hay hauler.

This new luxury SUT, as it is called, follows on the heels of Lincoln's Blackwood, which arrived in dealerships in June 2001. The Cadillac Escalade EXT is based on the Chevy Avalanche, which also features the Midgate.

Cadillac's luxury sport-utility truck is, of course, designed for an upscale audience. Trucks are popular with this crowd, and Cadillac says nearly a fourth of all of its customers own a pickups. At the same time, an increasing number of SUV buyers are women - and that's particularly true of the Escalade SUV. Surely, some of these people would like Cadillac levels of luxury and technology combined with a pickup bed, so, voila! Escalade EXT.

With aggressive styling and a powerful 345-horsepower V8 the new Escalade EXT is no pussycat. Park it next to your average SUV and it looks like it would eat it for lunch. All of this comes at a price.