Ram (Page 23)

People who go to the auto show in Orange County, Calif., through the end of this weekend will be able to test drive dozens of 2012 cars, trucks and vans -- everything from the new Volkswagen Beetle to the Fiat 500 and Chevrolet Sonic.

Last night the current contract between the UAW and the Chrysler Group expired and to prevent the workers from being forced to work without a valid contract, Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne flew from the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany to Detroit to finalize the new contract with UAW President Bob King – the only problem is that King didn’t show up.

The Ram brand will get a version of Fiat's Turkish-built Doblo panel van for 2013, to compete with Ford's increasingly popular Transit Connect.

Sales figures from around the American automotive industry are in and once again, the Chrysler Group was the strongest automaker in the industry in terms of growth with the smallest of the American Big 3 improving by 31%.

Just one week after Chrysler’s Ram Truck brand saw one of its models end with the last of the Dakota’s coming off of the assembly line, a new model enters production as the new Dodge Grand Caravan-based Ram C/V begins production in Windsor, Ontario.

Tuesday, August 23rd 2011 marks the end of an era for the Chrysler Group as the Dodge Dakota turned Ram Dakota will officially see the end of its 24 year production run.

The Chrysler Group’s Ram Truck brand is currently running a contest on Facebook that will award two lucky “friends” by giving them each a 2012 Ram 1500 Express for doing nothing more than signing up and inviting friends to do the same.

During a small media briefing this weekend, TorqueNews had a chance to talk to SRT CEO and President Ralph Gilles about the future of the high performance brand’s lineup as well as their stance on competing with the bestselling vehicles in the class.

We have known for some time now that the midsized pickup formerly known as the Dodge Dakota (now a part of the Ram brand) would come to an end this year and reports are indicating that the Dakota will see its production end this month - with a questionable future for the smaller of the Ram brand pickups.

The Dodge Ram Van was a major player in the full size van market until Daimler replaced it with the Mercedes-sourced Dodge Sprinter but based on some news from around the rumor mill, the Ram Truck brand could reintroduce a line of Ram Vans with help from parent company Fiat.

The Chrysler Group has seen strong numbers since introducing their lineup of new and refreshed vehicles – allowing them to once again lead the American auto industry in terms of growth as they beat out all other automotive groups last month.

Fiat had moved one step closer to their official merger with the Chrysler Group as CEO Sergio Marchionne has unveiled his new managerial plan with includes a group of 22 management members who will form the "group executive council" – including 4 individuals who will head up the company’s efforts in the various geographic regions.

We previously brought you the news of the MoVenture – a cross country road rally sponsored by Chrysler’s performance and aftermarket division Mopar and as hump day arrives, the MoVenture teams are halfway through their race from Detroit to Colorado.

The Chrysler Group and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have announced a recall of select Ram Trucks from the 2003-2011 model years over an issue with the left side tie rod that could cause a significant loss of steering control in the worst case scenario.

The good times continued for Chrysler in June, as the company led all major automakers in the US auto industry with a year-over-year growth of 30% - moving them into the third spot in vehicle sales for the month of June 2011 as they jumped over a still-struggling Toyota.

Chrysler has announced that when the 2012 Ram HD trucks hit the market later this year, they will feature a new optional 6-speed automatic transmission for models with the Cummins Turbo Diesel for those who don’t care for the standard 6-speed manual transmission.

Chrysler has just announced that the Street and Racing Technology division will be split off into its own cross-brand unit, moving former Dodge brand CEO Ralph Gilles to the head the new high performance brand but along with this move, Chrysler has made a handful of other management changes with an impact across North America.

Chrysler has shown a great deal of pride in their new Pentastar V6 since introducing it, as they have installed it in the engine option list of every vehicle and starting in 2012, the Ram pickups will also pack Pentastar power.

Due to some legal sour grapes by some California Chrysler brand dealerships, the Chrysler Group may be forced to sell their stake in the spectacular Motor Village dealership in LA which features the company’s plans of having all five brands under one roof with salon style accessory and aftersales offerings joining the sales, service and parts for every vehicle under the Chrysler umbrella.

May 2011 was not a month of great sales as nearly every major automotive group showed a decline compared to May of 2010 but the Chrysler Group was among those showing growth – making them the only American manufacturer to show positive growth in May.

Chrysler announced over a year ago that they were working with the Department of Energy to put together a demonstration fleet of plug-in electric hybrid Ram 1500 pickups and yesterday, the Ram brand delivered the first 10 PHEV Ram 1500s to the municipal services group of Yuma Arizona.

Chrysler’s Mopar division has announced the MoVenture - a cross-country road rally and scavenger hunt pitting 10 teams of hardcore Mopar enthusiasts head to head as the groups race from Detroit to Golden Colorado in 2011 and 2012 Chrysler vehicles.

Today (Tuesday, May 24th) Ram and Mopar engineers chat on the topics of off-roading, the Power Wagon and the Ram Runner high performance truck is set to begin at 6pm and you can join in the chat right here at TorqueNews.com!

Chrysler Group has announced that they would be moving planned summer shutdowns forward at several facilities to conserve parts that could be in short supply, stemming from problems caused by the Japanese earthquake on March 11th.

When attendees rolled into Churchill Downs in Kentucky this weekend to watch Animal Kingdom win the 137th Kentucky Derby, they were greeted by a huge array of Ram brand trucks and displays – including the grande debut of the Ram Long Hauler Concept.

In just over 24 hours, the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby will begin and when it does, Chrysler's Ram truck brand will be the title sponsor of the "Run for the Roses" for the second year in a row.

The numbers are in for April 2011 sales and for the second month in a row, the Chrysler Group showed strong growth compared to the same month a year ago with the exception being the Chrysler brand – one of just four major brands in the US to show a decline in sales growth.