2012 Ram 1500 No Reserve Hemi 4x4 Low Miles Look!! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Detroit 3 to implement delayed unified towing standards for 2015

Car buyers have a responsibility to be well-informed consumers. That's not always a very simple task, but some guidelines are self-evident. If you live in a very snowy climate, you generally know a Ford Mustang or Chevrolet Camaro might not be as viable a vehicle choice as an all-wheel drive Explorer or Traverse, for example. If you want a fuel-efficient car, it's generally a good idea to know the difference between a diesel and a hybrid. But what if it's kind of tough to be an informed consumer? What if the information you need is more difficult to come by, or worse, based on different standards for each vehicle? Well, in that case, you might be a truck shopper.
For years, customers of light-duty pickups have had to suffer through different ratings of towing capacities for each brand. For 2015 model year trucks, though, that will no longer be a problem. According to Automotive News, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler Group have announced that starting with next year's models, a common standard will be used to measure towing capacity. The Detroit Three will join Toyota, which adopted the Society of Automotive Engineers' so-called SAE J2807 standards way back in 2011.
The standard was originally supposed to be in place for MY2013, but concerns that it would lower the overall stated capacity for trucks led Detroit automakers to pass. Ford originally passed, claiming it'd wait until its new F-150 was launched to adopt the new standards, leading GM and Ram to follow suit. Nissan, meanwhile, has said it will adopt the new standards as its vehicles are updated, meaning the company's next-generation Titan should adhere to the same tow ratings as its competitors.

Here are all the vehicles sold by the 12 brands of the Fiat Chrysler PSA merger

Sven Gustafson and Ronan Glon contributed to this report. Whether or not the formal merger between Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and European conglomerate PSA Group means the return of Peugeot to the U.S., one thing’s for certain: The combined company will have a truckload of different brands. Sorting out what the deal means for all of them, including where they are sold and built, and whether and where there is product overlap, will be a key question for the two companies as they formalize the merger over the next 12 to 15 months. So far, both sides have steadfastly insisted that no job cuts or plant closures will result from the tie-up. WeÂ’ll see about that. In the meantime, weÂ’ve compiled an alphabetical list of all the vehicles currently sold in Europe and in North America by the various FCA and PSA brands, along with the years they debuted. We've gone into more detail about the European vehicles you might be less familiar with. The joint empire also has an antique store's worth of heritage-laced models and dormant brands, like Plymouth, Imperial, Simca, and Panhard, and it would have been even bigger had FCA not spun off Ferrari in early 2016. Alfa Romeo A legacy Italian sports car brand with roots in racing, Alfa Romeo has been struggling with declining U.S. sales. Giulia (2015): AlfaÂ’s rear-wheel drive sports sedan competes against German luxury sedans in North America and Europe. 4C (2013): The lightweight mid-engine rear-wheel-drive sports car is being phased out. Stelvio (2016): The Stelvio is a small luxury performance crossover that competes against the likes of the Porsche Macan and BMW X3 and is sold in both Europe and North America. Giulietta (2010): Sold in Europe, this compact hatchback is AlfaÂ’s entry-level model. After initially planning a rear-wheel drive 2020 update, the Giulietta is reportedly being nixed as part of FCAÂ’s latest product plans.   Chrysler Despite lending its name to its parent company, questions abound about the future of this legendary but faded brand, which is not offered in Europe. 300 (2011): Despite rumors of its pending demise, the four-door sedan lives on mostly unchanged for the 2020 model year, at least. Pacifica (2016): The successor to the Town & Country is ChryslerÂ’s bestselling model by a long shot and comes in gas-only and plug-in hybrid versions. Voyager (2019): ChryslerÂ’s newest minivan launches as its entry-level minivan for the 2020 model year.

Fiat Chrysler's next-generation Uconnect is faster, built on Android

If you're a regular reader of Autoblog, you know that for a long time we've liked Fiat Chrysler's Uconnect infotainment system for its bright, clear, responsive touchscreen interface. Now, according to the company, it will be better than ever with Uconnect 5, the latest iteration of the system. It has upgraded hardware and a revamped graphic user interface (the stuff on the screen). Looking at sample screens shown above, there are characteristics shared with the old system, such as the time, status and shortcuts at the top and the menu icons at the bottom. In the middle, the major change is the addition of home screens that can be customized with favorite menus and readouts that are always available. Each of these home screens can have up to four functions and you can have five pages to flip through. The graphics themselves feature more legible fonts and updated icons. Each car brand will get its own set of icons, colors and textures to help create unique experiences. And while each Fiat Chrysler product will be able to have Uconnect, including Alfa Romeo that has until now lacked Uconnect, each brand has the ability to make small tweaks including the screen orientation. The system will support displays in landscape, portrait or square, so different brands may choose different shapes. Powering Uconnect 5 is a processor Fiat Chrysler says is six times more powerful than what's in current systems. It features 6 gigabytes of RAM and 64 gigabytes of internal storage. The processor also supports screens as large as 12.3 inches with as many as 15 million pixels, or nearly twice that of a 4K resolution TV. The system can display information on up to four screens, too. Uconnect 5's firmware is built on Google's Android operating system, joining a few other automakers in using Android as a base for their infotainment systems. Uconnect 5 brings with it a number of new features. It brings full Alexa integration, so you can use it just like you do at home, provided you have a data plan for the car. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto continue to be standard, but now they can be used wirelessly. You can also now connect two phones via Bluetooth wirelessly so you can access content from both. Navigation gets real time information and updates from TomTom. Users can create five profiles with unique climate, radio and instrument settings, plus one for a valet.