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2020 Ram Power Wagon Review | What mud?

A 2020 Ram Power Wagon is not your typical heavy-duty pickup truck. All of them try to be the tough kid on the block, but the Power Wagon goes even further. Just the name, Power Wagon, is synonymous with a tenacious, brash, and mean attitude.  “LetÂ’s go hop in my Power Wagon,” I shout at my friend. I donÂ’t even need to add anything else to that sentence to sound braggadocios. The Ram takes care of it for me. And I do mean hop into it. One does not gracefully step in and out of a Power Wagon, because it is simply far too high off the ground. There are side steps, but they're not one of those automatically-retracting ones that forms a staircase into the cabin. Instead, I grab the A-pillar handle, yank myself onto the step, and then swivel around to fall onto the large, comfy seat.  Once inside, the tough kid mantra starts to slip, but only slightly. Ram brought all the fancy interior appointments from the 1500 over to the Heavy Duty lineup with the 2019 refresh, which means the 2500 Power Wagon also gets all the goodies. Our heavily-optioned test truck doesnÂ’t feel rugged or basic on the inside at all. ItÂ’s covered in black leather, piano black and carbon fiber-look trim, metal accents and digital screens galore. There are still some rather large ‘Power WagonÂ’ badges here and there, plus the big mechanical transfer case shifter (the only Ram HD with one), but the inside is much more luxurious than one would expect from an off-road vehicle. 2020 Ram 2500 Power Wagon View 20 Photos Taking stock of my height relative to other vehicles on the road brings the reality of the Power Wagon back into perspective. Throughout my weekend behind the wheel, there wasnÂ’t another pickup that I passed or pulled up next to at a light that was sitting taller than me. This comes as no surprise, as the Power Wagon features a 2-inch lift from its custom suspension versus other Ram Heavy Duty trucks. It also has Bilstein shocks, front and rear locking differentials and an electronically disconnecting sway bar. Armed with all that, leaving the pavement is a must. Lacking any great off-road trails or logging roads in the southeast Michigan area, I turned the Power Wagon south and aimed for dirt roads. We had just received a few big rains in the area, and some of the dirt roads around here can get egregiously bad to navigate in winter. Thankfully, I found some mud.

2019 Ram 1500 pickup production problems costing FCA $300M to fix

Fiat Chrysler is spending more than $300 million to fix production issues with the new 2019 Ram 1500 pickup as the plant where it's built is running below capacity and suppliers reportedly struggle to keep up with building it and the 2018 version simultaneously. The truck's ramp-up is well behind schedule, Automotive News reports. FCA's Sterling Heights Assembly plant in Michigan began building the pickup in mid-January but is running at only 60 percent capacity, CEO Sergio Marchionne said on an earnings call last week. Sources told the publication the plant is still undergoing construction and was building about 1,000 trucks per day toward a run rate of 1,400 per day. It's operating two 10-hour shifts per day, seven days a week, with plans to keep the factory running every weekend and holiday through Labor Day to meet production targets. More than 2,500 of the new pickups were reportedly awaiting unspecified electrical repairs before they could be shipped. FCA could use the boost from the heralded new 2019 Ram 1500, which figures prominently in its aggressive annual financial goals. The company is relying on the previous-generation 2018 Ram 1500, demand for which has been sagging. First-quarter sales of the pickup are down almost 13 percent year over year to 103,964, according to carsalesbase.com figures. Meanwhile, sales of Ford's F-Series pickups over the same period rose 4 percent to 214,191, while Chevrolet Silverado sales have climbed 5 percent to 135,545. Dealers have started receiving deliveries of the 2019 Ram 1500, but only the version fitted with the 5.7-liter V8. The EPA has yet to issue fuel economy ratings for the standard 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 paired with the eTorque 48-volt mild hybrid system, nor the same system mated with the V8. As we noted in our recent First Drive review, upgrading to the (non-hybrid) V8 costs $1,195, which is actually $255 cheaper than before. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Image Credit: FCA Plants/Manufacturing RAM Truck sales

United States drivers buying fewer Mexican-made cars

Crossovers and pickup trucks are not only growing in market share, they're also more profitable than cars. A crossover on the same platform as a sedan retails for thousands more, despite similar components. It's one of the reasons we've seen automakers rapidly shifting production of their sedans and hatchbacks to Mexico, where cheap labor preserves the thin profit margins on these inexpensive vehicles. But as the market continues to shift in the United States, Mexico is getting burned by its lack of product diversity. The country's auto exports, which are heavy on cars, suffered a 16-percent drop last month, Automotive News reports. In total, year-over-year exports fell from 233,515 to 197,020 last month, while year-to-date exports are down by 7.4 percent, from 922,029 to 854,118. The number one culprit? America – which usually accounts for 75 percent of Mexico's exports – and its appetite for crossovers and pickup trucks bolstered by cheap gas prices. While Mexico does build some light truck models – AN specifically calls out the Ram 2500, Honda HR-V, GMC Sierra, and Toyota Tacoma as export leaders – the vast majority of vehicles rolling out of its factories are sedans and hatchbacks. In fact, the three biggest drops in Mexican exports came from companies whose south of the border factories only build cars – Ford (Fusion/Lincoln MKZ and Fiesta), Mazda (Mazda3), and Volkswagen (Golf and Jetta). Mexican Automotive Industry Association President Eduardo Solis told AN the export shortfall will likely be sorted out sooner rather than later, thanks to a pair of new factories – a Kia car factory and an Audi SUV plant – that are coming online by year's end. The two facilities will add around 100,000 vehicles to the country's export totals, which Solis said should leave the industry on the verge of breaking another export record in 2016. But how sustainable will these record-breaking years be? Slapping an "Hecho en Mexico" sticker on a new German SUV won't be enough to change the fact that Mexico's product mix is tilted too heavily towards body styles that are not growing in volume. Mexico's record-breaking export years probably aren't at an end, but we'd argue they're certainly under threat. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Omar Torres / AFP / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Ford GMC Honda Mazda RAM Volkswagen Truck Crossover SUV Mexico