Lightning Struck: Ford decides to shelve SVT pickup.(News)(Ford Motor Co.)

Byline: STEVEN COLE SMITH

** Ford is pulling the plug on the next-generation SVT F-150 Lightning pickup truck, instead putting all of SVT's eggs into one basket-the SVT Cobra Mustang, due in 2006 as a 2007 model.

"It's a business decision,'' said Alan Hall, SVT spokesman. The official line is the Lightning is "postponed'' and not killed, but if it is revived, it will be 2008 or later before we see one. SVT has gone from three vehicles in the 2004 model year-the Lightning, Cobra Mustang and SVT Focus-to none in 2005.

Ford had already shown a concept version of the next-generation Lightning in 2003. The concept had a supercharged V8 engine with more than 500 hp, in answer to the Dodge Ram SRT-10, which eclipsed the Lightning as the world's fastest production pickup in a test last winter. Ford was eager to regain the crown, but has decided to cede the performance pickup-truck market over to Dodge and its 500-hp SRT-10, and to a lesser extent, Chevrolet, though the heavy, all-wheel-drive Silverado SS is not in the same category.

The Lightning debuted in 1993, with a 240-hp version of Ford's 5.8-liter V8. It was only a mild success, and was dropped in 1995. The F-150's redesign led to a handsome new Lightning for 1999, featuring a 360-hp supercharged 5.4-liter V8. A handful of 2004 Lightnings, not much changed from that 1999 model ...