2012 Ram 1500 St on 2040-cars

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2022 Ram 1500 Laramie now offers Front Lighting Value Package

Were Audi dealers onto something with their Semiconductor Shortage Package? A few days ago, we posted about the Ingolstadt brand's cars adorned by Monroneys featuring the aforementioned package. That line item summarized the vehicle's missing features thanks to global semiconductor woes, and how much money had been subtracted from the MSRP because of the exclusions. Now, Mopar Insiders reports that the Build & Price tool for the 2022 Ram 1500 Laramie includes a Front Lighting Value Package. Choosing the option swaps the Laramie's standard-fit LED headlights and fog lights for halogen headlights and fog lights, saving buyers $495. The image above is a side-by-side of trucks configured with the standard LEDs (left) and the halogens (right). Playing around with the configurator, it appears the change can't be ordered with the Laramie's standard 3.6-liter Pentastar V6. When attempting to add the value package, a dialogue box requires choosing one of the two optional 5.7-liter Hemi V8 engines or the 3.0-liter V6 EcoDiesel, and one of the 8HP75 eight-speed automatic transmissions fitted to those three engines. The Pentastar comes with the 850RE eight-speed auto.  Thankfully, the Front Lighting Value Package is an option; you can get all the way to the end without selecting it. Nevertheless, we're intrigued by the order constraints. Seems to us that a buyer happy with the entry-level engine might prefer to save some dosh on the headlights, as opposed to buyers spending either $2,795 for a V8 Hemi or $4,995 for the oil-burner. And that's before one considers the savings. The luxury-oriented Laramie trim sits in the lineup $9,000 above the Bighorn, $7,000 below the Limited Longhorn. Swapping the standard halogen headlights and fog lights on the Bighorn to LED units costs $995 for the Premium Lighting Group, the discount to take LEDs off the Laramie is half that. Getting aftermarket LED headlights for the Laramie would cost at least $300, and that's before the hassle of install and questions of quality. So where is the point in saving $500 for objectively worse lighting that will likely cost more to add later? As if it needed saying again: These are strange days. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2020 Ram 2500 Power Wagon POV drive

Chrysler earns $1.7B in 2012, revises product plans for US

Hot on the heels of Ford's earnings announcement for the year that was, Chrysler today reported a 2012 net income of $1.7 billion, up substantially from the comparatively minuscule $183 million profit earned in 2011 when it repaid its US government loans.
Chrysler's good year ended with an excellent fourth quarter that saw net income rise 68 percent from $225 million in 2011 to $378 million. Where are all those extra earnings coming from? Market share, which Chrysler saw increase to 11.4% last year on sales of 1.65 million vehicles. In fact, the Auburn Hills, MI-based automaker out-paced the industry's market growth of 13 percent last year with sales up 21 percent for the year.
The company also revealed an updated product plan for its Chrysler Group and Fiat brands that looks all the way out to 2016. It's an updated version of the plan introduced in 2009 shortly after Fiat took control of the American automaker, and includes such new additions as an Alfa Romeo model, likely the 4C, to be introduced in the US this year, as well five more Alfa models by 2016. Likewise, Fiat will be growing by an additional seven models in the coming few years.

Fiat Chrysler CEO says final merger talks with Peugeot going well

BRUSSELS — Fiat Chrysler's chief executive Michael Manley said on Wednesday that merger talks with Peugeot owner PSA  to create the world's No. 4 carmaker are progressing well and he hopes to have a deal within 12-14 months. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of an industry meeting, he said he doesn't expect any major obstacles that could delay a final agreement. "Talks are progressing really well," Manley said about negotiations with the French carmaker ahead of a briefing by the European automotive association (ACEA), of which he is president. His comments come a month after the two carmakers agreed to a binding deal worth about $50 billion to combine forces in response to a slowdown in global demand and mounting costs of making cleaner vehicles amid tighter emissions regulations. Manley's timeline for completing the deal by early 2021 is in line with a forecast made by the companies in December. Fiat and Peugeot are now getting into the details of how the merger will work, including choosing which vehicle platforms — the technological underpinnings of a vehicle — will fit which products in a combined company. Because customers in different locations still prefer vastly different cars, there is room for multiple platforms in a combined group, Manley said. "That global platform is an elusive beast," he added. "This concept of a massive global platform in my mind is almost a myth, but that doesnÂ’t mean to say weÂ’re not going to recruit significant volume." Related Video: