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Ram 1200 small pickup rumored on its way to fight Ford Maverick

A report out of Brazil from Auto Segredos (translated), picked up by CarBuzz, claims the U.S. is going to get a baby Ram pickup. The outlet was part of a group of local car media speaking to Antonio Filosa, president of Stellantis South America. Filosa's big announcement was that there'd be a new Ram 1200 truck for our neighbors in the next hemisphere, part of a product onslaught involving 16 new models and 26 revised models over the next three years. The key Auto Segredos line for us is, "The pickup will also be sold in the American market to face the Ford Maverick." If it's true, then this is enormous news. Other details in the report leave us a touch cloudy on what such a pickup will look like for the American market, though. At one point, the AS article says the truck will be built on the Small Wide 4x4 platform used by Stellantis family products like the Jeep Renegade and Alfa Romeo Tonale. The architecture will be resized in Brazil "to be a medium-sized pickup" competing with the segment including the Chevrolet S10 (which is still on sale down there), Toyota Hilux, and Ford Ranger. Ram had a 1200 pickup on sale in the Middle East that was based on the Mitsubishi L200 and fought the Hilux and Ranger, but the Mitsu has always been body-on-frame and we'd wonder at Ram sending a cushy-riding pickup to battle hardcore work trucks. In the U.S., however, we're told the Ram 1200 would fight in the class below that, in the growing field of compact pickups dominated at the moment by the Ford Maverick. The most confusing bit: AS writes, "In the U.S., there are plans for the Ram 1200 to have a chassis-mounted version." The way the piece is translated, Brazil would be getting a midsized Ram unibody pickup to challenge midsized body-on-frame pickups while the U.S. would get a compact Ram body-on-frame pickup to compete against a compact unibody pickup. Something's either been lost in the Google translation, or Ram is truly operating in the fourth dimension if this comes to pass as we're reading it.

Ram 1500 TRX fuel economy figures are out — and economy isn't the right word

Ram published many statistics when it introduced the 1500 TRX, but one part of the puzzle was missing: fuel economy. It finally released those figures, and they confirm that supercar-like power brings supercar-like thirst. Driven with a light right foot, the TRX returns 10 mpg in the city, 14 mpg on the highway, and 12 mpg combined. It's the least efficient Hellcat-powered model; Jeep's Grand Cherokee Trackhawk scores 13 mpg combined, while Dodge's Charger and Challenger post 15. Figures for the Durango haven't been published yet, but there's no reason to think it will use more gas than the TRX. At 12 combined, the truck is about on par with the Lamborghini Aventador S. On the surface, that's not great. Keep in mind the mighty TRX was developed for off-road performance, however, and we doubt fuel economy entered the equation at all. It's a body-on-frame truck powered by a 6.2-liter V8 supercharged to 702 horsepower, it has mammoth 35-inch all-terrain tires to push around, and it weighs 6,350 pounds. Viewed in this light, 12 mpg is actually shockingly decent. Conversely, the folks who designed the Toyota Prius weren't concerned about its water fording ability, its approach angle, or its zero-to-60-mph time. Motorists who place fuel efficiency at the very top of their priorities list have a growing list of excellent options to choose from, even if they're in the market for a pickup. At the other end of the Ram spectrum, the rear-wheel drive 1500 posts figures of 23, 33, and 26, respectively, when it's equipped with the 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6. The TRX starts at $71,690 including destination, and it will arrive in showrooms later in 2020. Related Video:

Airbags on some 2019-2020 Ram 1500 pickups might not work

FCA has issued an airbag-related recall for 295,981 Ram 1500 pickup trucks, but in this case, there is no risk of explosions. Instead, the airbags and the seat belt pretensioners might not work at all. According to Ram, some 1500 trucks from the 2019 and 2020 model years might have faulty Occupant Restraint Controllers (ORC). The flash memory in the ORCs could become corrupt, which would then interfere with the pickups' safety features. As a result, the seat belt pretensioners and the airbags could become disabled. This is obviously a major problem, should occupants get into a crash after this occurs. The recall was filed to NHTSA.com on May 31, 2019, and uses campaign number 19V407000. Starting July 20, 2019, FCA will notify owners if their trucks are affected, and dealers will provide the fix. The ORC will either be reprogrammed or completely replaced at no cost to the customers. Questions can be addressed through Chrysler's customer service number, 1-800-853-1403, with V61 and V71 recall reference numbers.