2002 Cadillac Escalade EXT Black tie pickup. By Sue Mead, New Car Test Drive .com

The 2002 Cadillac Escalade EXT is a new model in a new market: the luxury sport utility truck (SUT) segment. It combines the stowage and hauling capabilities of a full-sized pick-up truck with the people-carrying capacity of an SUV, packaged with the creature comforts of a luxury car.

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.

EXT starts at $49,990. Only one well-equipped model is available, which comes loaded with the Midgate storage system, GM's OnStar communications and navigation system, Stabilitrak traction control and road-sensing suspension, four-wheel ABS, front and side airbags, and Ultrasonic Rear Parking Assist.

There are two options only: a tinted-glass, power-assisted sunroof ($1550) and premium paint ($995).