SEMA Preview: Ram SRT 392 Quick Silver Packs 470-Ponies Under the Hood

The Chrysler Group's now independent Ram brand hopes to turn some heads at this year’s SEMA Show with the Ram 392 Quick Silver concept.

The brawny pickup truck started life as a 2011 Ram R/T but Mopar's engineers replaced the stock 390HP 5.7-liter V8 with a SRT-sourced 6.4-liter 392 HEMI V8 with 470-horses.

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Ram Expands Range with New 1500 Mossy Oak Edition, and Power Wagon ST and Laramie Models

The Chrysler Group's Ram division presented three new pickup truck variants today, including the 2012 1500 Mossy Oak Edition and the Power Wagon ST and Laramie models.

Staring off with the 2012 Ram 1500 Mossy Oak , the special edition version is set to arrive in dealerships in December 2011 with pricing set at US$39,910, including $995 destination charge.

The limited-run model was created in cooperation with Mossy Oak, which is a camouflage brand. This explains the odd-looking Mossy Oak Breakup Infinity trim on the center console and door panel inserts that have the opposite effect of camouflage…

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Change of Plans for Chrysler Group, will Eliminate Duplicate Models, Hints at U.S. Market Delta

The product plan brewing continues over at the Fiat Group – Chrysler LLC alliance. Following the recent news on the Jeep and Alfa Romeo brands, the group's CEO Sergio Marchionne offered new details on Chrysler LLC's strategy.

In an interview with Automotive News, Marchionne said that the company has revised its Project Genesis plan, which was put in place in 2008 when Chrysler was still under the ownership of Cerberus Capital Management.

The two key elements of the Genesis plan are merging the dealerships of all four Chrysler group brands, including Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram under one roof, (with only a few exceptions), and abolishing duplicate products that are the result of badge-engineering such as the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger, and the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan.

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Former Chrysler CEO Nardelli Says Cerberus Could Have Saved the Automaker

It's been two years since Bob Nardelli stepped down as Chrysler CEO while the company was still owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, for which he still works, but the 63-year-old exec still has the hots for the Detroit carmaker.

During an interview with The Detroit News on the sidelines of a recent Dow Jones conference in New York, Nardelli said that the Obama administration didn’t have to give Chrysler away to Fiat as he believes Cerberus could have done a better job of saving the automaker.

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Chrysler to Sell Fiat Doblo in the U.S. and Canada under the Ram Brand

In a move that perhaps shows more than anything else how intertwined the automotive industry is today, the Fiat and Chrysler Alliance announced today plans to sell the Fiat Doblo van in the U.S. and Canadian markets under the Ram brand.

You may recall that GM's European division Opel, will debut its own rebadged version of the Fiat Doblo called the Combo at next week's Frankfurt Motor Show .

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Chrysler Recalls 243,000 Ram Pickup Trucks over Steering Flaw

Chrysler’s Ram brand has notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Association that it is recalling 242,780 pickup trucks over a steering failure that could lead to “a loss of directional stability”.

The safety agency reported that the left tie rod ball may fracture during low speed parking maneuvers when the driver is making a sudden turn. This could lead to the loss of directional stability in the left front wheel.

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Mercedes-Benz Tops Secret Shopper Study of U.S. Dealers, Lincoln Places Last in Luxury Segment

Mercedes-Benz dealers were number one for customer treatment in the US according to an independent study by survey company Pied Piper. The California-based company hired 3,524 “secret shoppers” and sent them to US dealerships in order to determine how their salesmen were performing in anything from explaining a car’s features to closing a deal.

This is the third year in a row that Mercedes-Benz, which looks set to top the sales charts this year in the luxury segment, has topped Pied Piper’s study.

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Pickup Trucks Inventories Rising, Manufacturers are Worried

It seems like US carmakers are beginning to worry about the rising inventory of their big pickup trucks. For example, General Motors has an inventory of 122 days (or 4 months) of its Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra according to a report from Reuters, or 50% higher than the typical industry inventory of 80 days.

But GM isn’t the only automaker in distress. Chrysler, Toyota and Ford also are behind their projected sales, with 93 days inventory for the first two makers and 79 days for the third respectively.

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Chrysler’s Ram Truck Brand to Debut New ‘Guts. Glory. Ram.’ Tagline

Following in the footsteps of its sister brands Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep, the Chrysler LLC Group’s Ram Truck division is relaunching its marketing strategy with a new tag line that will make its official debut during this weekend’s TV broadcast of the Kentucky Derby racing event, which the company is an official sponsor.

The firm’s new motto is ‘Guts. Glory. Ram’ and according to the Auburn Hills-based group, it pays homage to the history of Ram Truck Brand and “represents the hard work and dedication placed in the design, engineering and production of each and every Ram truck”.

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Hennessey’s Tire-Shredding HPE500 Supercharged Ram Truck on Film

The tuners over at Hennessey Performance have always had a thing for boosting anything that rides on four wheels. More recently, the Texas-based tuning firm applied its technical wizardry on the Ram Truck. The result is the Hennessey HPE500 Supercharged Ram, which as implied by its name, features a supercharged version of the Chrysler Group’s 5.7-liter Hemi V8 producing 505-horsepower at 5,400 rpm.

The tune include numerous standard upgrades such as a sport exhaust and Hennessey embroidered seats, along with various optional parts like different alloy wheel and tire combos and suspension systems. While we’re waiting for Hennessey to pit the HPE500 Supercharged Ram against a stock Nissan GT-R or a Porsche 911 Turbo, you can watch the powerful pickup truck in some tire shredding action in the video after the break.

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Ram Goes Big, Really Big with New Long-Hauler Concept Truck

The Chrysler Group claims, “they don’t get much bigger” than its new Ram Long-Hauler Concept truck and at a whopping 24 feet (about 7.3 meters) long, who can blame them? Based on a Class 5 Ram 5500 Chassis Cab, the monstrous Long Hauler rides on an extended wheelbase measuring 197.4-in. (5,014mm) in length, which is more than enough to fit a Mercedes-Benz E-Class (191.7-in)!

The concept truck is also 79.1 inches tall and tips the scales at an environmentally…unfriendly 9,300 lbs (4,218 kg), or close to 2.5-times as much as a Mercedes-Benz E350 sedan. Ram says the Long-Hauler has a maximum Gross Combined Weight Rating of 37,500 lbs (16,783 kg).

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Jeep’s 2011 Moab Easter Safari Specials in Pictures and on Video

Earlier today, we showed you the Jeep Wrangler JK-8 Independence pickup truck [DIY] conversion, and now its time to give you a sneak peek of the rest of the vehicles Jeep and Mopar are planning to bring to the upcoming 45th annual Moab Easter Jeep Safari in Utah on April 16.

The list includes the Jeep Compass Canyon, Cherokee Overland, Grand Cherokee Off-road Edition, Wrangler Renegade, Wrangler Pork Chop, Wrangler Blue Crush and the Mopar Ram Truck Runner.

One of the most impressive looking models is the Jeep Wrangler Blue Crush, which is said to combine “high-speed off-road racing and rock-crawling capability.” The high-riding Wrangler packs a Mopar 426 cubic-inch HEMI V8 with 540 horsepower that is paired with a 545RFE performance transmission and a gear-drive transfercase.

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Ram Unveils New 1500 Express Pickup Truck for Younger, First-Time Buyers

Ram's new version of the 1500 pickup truck, formerly known under the code name the “Adventurer”, has finally received an official designation. The Ram 1500 Express targets younger customers and first-time buyers and comes with a starting price of $23,830 (€16,677), including a $975 destination charge.

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New Ram Cargo Van is a 2012 Dodge Caravan for the Pro

The Chrysler Group’s Ram Truck division has lifted the wraps off its latest offering, the new Cargo Van or simply Ram C/V, which is nothing more than a 2012 Dodge Caravan in LCV guise with solid panels in the place of the rear windows and a flat load area.

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Ram Truck Announces New Entry-Level 1500 HEMI V8, Still to Decide on Name

In a somewhat strange move, the Chrysler Group's Ram Truck division announced today that it would launch a new entry-level version of its 1500 pickup truck equipped with a standard HEMI V8 engine, but it has yet to decide on the vehicle's name. According to the company, the new model is currently known under the code name “Adventurer".

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Ram Introduces New 1500 Tradesman at Chicago Show

Chrysler's Ram division introduced the a new Tradesman option package for the 2011 Ram 1500 at the Chicago Auto Show. Based on the ST trim level, the new variant comes with the 390HP 5.7-liter HEMI V8 and five-speed automatic transmission, accompanied by a more comprehensive standard equipment list.

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Japanese Students craft a Dodge Ram Truck out of a Mazda MPV

We received some e-mails asking us if the green-colored Ram truck hiding behind the Chrysler-ized Prius 300C we showed you earlier today was a tricked out Dodge, or if, like many other project cars shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon, this too was a replica. The answer is it's a Ram Truck clone based on the Mazda Bongo Friendee, which is a Japanese domestic market MPV with seating for eight, offered between 1995 and 2005. Like the Prius 300C, the Ram Truck Friendee was built by a team of students from the Saitama Institute of Automotive Technology.

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Chrysler and EPA Working on Hydraulic Hybrid System for Passenger Cars [with Video]

Chrysler and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a new partnership to explore the possibility of adapting the EPA's hydraulic hybrid system for passenger cars and light-duty vehicles. Developed by the EPA, the hydraulic hybrid system is currently used in industrial applications, including large delivery trucks and refuse trucks, but Chrysler, keen on developing a new portfolio of hybrid vehicles, wants to adopt it for use on passenger vehicles. Read more »

Triple Recall for Dodge Affects Over 144,000 Journey and Ram Vehicles

The Chrysler Group is recalling certain Dodge Journey crossovers and Ram trucks in three separate actions to repair defective steering wheels, airbags and noisy rear axles.

The largest of Chrysler's recalls involves 65,180 Dodge Journey vehicles manufactured from November 1, 2007, through September 7, 2008. According to a posting on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA], the wires within the front door wire harnesses may fatigue and break. If this happens, the side-impact sensors may not work resulting in inoperative side airbags. Chrysler said it will replace the left and right door wiring harnesses free of charge.

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Automakers Developing Significantly Lighter Trucks to Meet New Fuel Economy Standards

Reuters is reporting that major automakers are tirelessly working on reducing the weight of future generation pickup trucks, in order to meet stricter fuel economy standards without sacrificing key abilities, such as power, payload capacity or towing capability.

Until 2016, when the new mandates take effect, manufacturers must reach an average fleet economy of 35.5 mpg (6.63 lt/100 km), while light trucks will have to return around 30 mpg or 7.84 lt/100 km. Given that around 50 per cent of vehicles sold in the U.S. in the first 11 months of the year were light trucks, it’s clear that the likes of Ford and GM have to act fast.

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