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Ram 1500 EcoDiesel is coming soon, but a midsize Ram, not right now

NEW YORK — At this year's New York Auto Show, we had the opportunity to talk with the head of Ram Trucks, Jim Morrison, and he had a few interesting tidbits about what's coming and what isn't for the brand. The first big news is that the 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 diesel is finally coming to the all-new Ram 1500 later this year. Up until now, the engine was only available in the previous-generation Ram 1500 and current Ram 1500 Classic. The new Ram 1500 EcoDiesel won't have the same engine, though. It will be a redesigned 3.0-liter turbodiesel that will also appear in the Jeep Gladiator in 2020. That means it should also make 260 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque, unless the Ram gets unique tuning that changes the output. Morrison wouldn't elaborate on any other details, though, including whether it would utilize the eTorque mild-hybrid assist of its gas powered cousins. The other news concerns things we probably won't see from Ram anytime soon — and one of them is a midsize pickup truck. Morrison said there are no plans for one yet, though the company is always considering options. In the meantime, the current strategy is to offer the Ram 1500 Classic as an option to potential midsize buyers. The thinking, of course, is that the Ram 1500 Classic is cheaper than the redesigned Ram 1500, and it's a bigger truck than midsizers. We can't help but wonder if the Gladiator might also make a midsize Ram a tougher sell at the moment. Finally, Morrison still had nothing to say about a regular cab offering for the redesigned Ram 1500. The only full-size Ram 1500 offering with a regular cab is the Classic model, leaving four-door models only on the normal 1500. We know that regular cabs don't sell well, so it's understandable that there isn't an offering yet, but it seems the company will have to offer one eventually when the Classic runs its course. Odds are that a future Ram 1500 regular cab will look something like the Ram 2500 and 3500 regular cab models, but with a more subdued grille.

China-FCA merger could be a win-win for everyone but politicians

NEW YORK — Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne has said the car industry needs to come together, cut costs and stop incinerating capital. So far, his words have mostly fallen on deaf ears among competitors in Europe and North America. But it appears Marchionne has finally found a receptive audience — in China. FCA shares soared Monday after trade publication Automotive News reported the $18 billion Italian-American conglomerate controlled by the Agnelli family rebuffed a takeover from an unidentified carmaker from the Chinese mainland. As ugly as the politics of such a combination may appear at first blush, a transaction could stack up industrially, and perhaps even financially. A Sino-U.S.-European merger would create the first truly global auto group. That could push consolidation to the next level elsewhere. Moreover, China is the world's top market for the SUVs that Jeep effectively invented, so it might benefit FCA financially. A combo would certainly help upgrade the domestic manufacturer; Chinese carmakers have gotten better at making cars, but struggle to build global brands, and they need to develop export markets. Though frivolous overseas shopping excursions by Chinese enterprises are being reined in by Beijing, acquisitions that support the modernization and transformation of strategic industries still receive support, and the government considers the automotive industry to be strategic. A purchase of FCA by Guangzhou Automobile, Great Wall or Dongfeng Motors would probably get the same stamp of approval ChemChina was given for its $43 billion takeover of Syngenta. What's standing in the way? Apart from price (Automotive News said FCA's board deemed the offer insufficient) there's the not-insignificant matter of politics. Even as FCA shares soared, President Donald Trump interrupted his vacation to instruct the U.S. Trade Representative to look into whether to investigate China's trade policies on intellectual property. Seeing storied Detroit brands like Jeep, Chrysler, Ram and Dodge handed off to a Chinese company would provoke howls among Trump's economic-nationalist supporters. It might not play well in Italy, either, to see Alfa Romeo and Maserati answering to Wuhan instead of Turin — though Automotive News said they might be spun off separately. Yet, as Morgan Stanley observes, "cars don't ship across oceans easily," and political considerations increasingly demand local manufacture of valuable products.

Top torque-to-weight ratios under $100k, $50k and $25k

Horsepower may steal a lot of headlines, but the always-more-complex torque figure is often a critical one for both the workingman and the motoring playboy. The measure of rotational force represents the twist that can liquefy one's tires or haul one's horse trailer. Good stuff.
It follows then, that as with the horsepower-to-weight list that we assembled for you a few months ago, a list of cars that offer the most pound-feet with the fewest pounds to carry, is an interesting one to break down. Sure, there's a big difference in how the torque is applied from a turbocharged six-cylinder in a Swedish luxury sedan and a massive heavy-duty truck's turbo-diesel. But being the car/stat geeks that we are, we think it's kinda neat that those two vehicles rank near each other where torque and weight intersect.
As with the horsepower list, we've given you figures as pounds per every one pound-foot. Again broken down into broad price categories, we've got a mixed bag of 2014 and 2015 models here, too. Every effort has been made to select the most up-to-date prices and specs, and we've also to omitted some '14 cars that won't be re-upped after the ongoing yearly changeover.