2024 Ram 2500 Tradesman on 2040-cars

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If you can't Ram it, you can plow it

While the auto industry is mostly focused on the would-be Geneva Show reveals, there's another show going on in Indianapolis about commercial work trucks. At the show, Ram revealed it would offer a Snow Plow Prep package for the 2021 Ram 1500. Ram already offered a similar (but better named) package for the 2500 called the Snow Chief Group, so this represents an expansion of availability. The package adds exactly what it says: the basics needed to hook up a snow plow. Under the hood, there's an upgraded 220-amp alternator to handle the load of the extra lights and motors from a plow, plus a wiring harness to plug in said plow. It also removes the active air dam to make room for plow mounts and adds a sliding rear window with defroster. All this adds $195 to the price of your four-wheel-drive Ram, which can be equipped as a Tradesman, Big Horn or Laramie with either the eTorque 5.7-liter V8 or 3.0-liter turbocharged EcoDiesel V6. It's a little less comprehensive than the 2500's Snow Chief Group, which adds the alternator, plus a limited-slip differential, auxiliary dash switches, clearance lamps, off-road tires and a transfer case skid plate, but that package also costs more at $845. One important note for any wannabe Mr. (or Ms.) Plows out there: neither the 1500 or 2500 packages include a plow. For that you'll have to go to an aftermarket plow manufacturer. For example, the Ram 1500 shown above has a Meyer Drive Pro plow, which costs over $5,000. So keep that in mind, or you may find yourself using your family to record a homemade commercial for your plow business just to pay for the huge truck you bought. Related Video:

Chrysler and Hyundai join Pepsi and Coke as top Super Bowl spenders [w/ video]

Super Bowl XLVIII is barely a week away, and some of the early ads are already leaking out. It's timely then that The Street has released rankings of the top five Super Bowl advertisers since 2009, showing Chrysler and Hyundai/Kia taking two of the spots with $131.7 million in cumulative spending.
Since 2010, the cost to air a 30-second Super Bowl ad has risen from $3 million in 2009 to about $4 million in 2014, and about a fifth of advertisers opt for a one-minute ad, which doubles costs. Last year, the ads brought in $292 million, and they have brought in roughly $2 billion since 2010.
Chrysler has spent $64.3 million since 2009 to make it the fourth highest spending company in the last five years. In that time, the company has rebranded itself as it emerged from bankruptcy with the Imported from Detroit ad campaign that premiered in 2011 and last year's God Made a Farmer Ram Trucks ad. Its 2012 Halftime in America sparked national debate about whether it was also a reference to the upcoming presidential election.