2014 Ram 1500 Tradesman/express on 2040-cars

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Ram establishes new commercial truck division

To better go after the work truck market that its rivals Ford and General Motors have dominated for some time, the Ram Truck brand of Chrysler is starting a new sub-line of work vehicles called Ram Commercial. Rather than carrying the full Ram Commercial name, each model in the new lineup would wear the Tradesman trim level, which means that the Ram 1500 Tradesman is disappearing for retail buyers only and will still be available for commercial or fleet buyers.
The Ram Commercial lineup will consist of current products like the Ram 1500 Tradesman, Ram Heavy Duty Tradesman pickups and chassis cab trucks, and the Ram C/V Tradesman cargo van, but it will also be adding a new full-size van called the 2014 Ram ProMaster Tradesman based off the Fiat Ducato. It also looks like Ram Commercial will be getting a smaller van from the Fiat Professional brand to go up against small cargo-friendly vehicles like the Ford Transit Connect and Mini Clubvan, but we can't tell if this new model is based on the Fiat Scudo, Doblo and Florino.
Ram Commercial buyers will also benefit from the BusinessLink and "On The Job" programs. Both programs make it easier for businesses to purchase and maintain their fleets.

270,000 Ram pickups in ‘salt belt’ recalled to fix sagging fuel tanks

Drive a Ram 1500? Maybe it's time to give your fuel tanks a look. FCA is issuing a voluntary recall of over 270,000 Ram 1500 pickups to prevent their fuel tanks from sagging. A corrosion-related problem, the issue can be identified either visually by looking at the undercarriage, or by listening to any scraping noises, as the brackets for the fuel tanks straps corrode and can cause the tanks to hang low. FCA says in its statement that the recall is limited to 270,254 model year 2009-2012 Ram 1500 pickups that have been registered in states belonging to what is called the "salt belt," that is, the District of Columbia and the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Some 27,000 trucks will also be recalled in Canada, a thousand in Mexico and some 5,300 others. The tanks themselves are made of high-density polyethylene, and as such do not rust out: The problem is related to their fixings. The tanks won't be detached, as if a bracket fails, the remaining structural components will still hold the tanks. FCA also says no related incidents or injuries have been reported, nor have there been any fires — but the brackets are definitely worth getting fixed. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

YouTube tallies votes for this year's top five Super Bowl spots [w/video]

When we asked you to tell us which of this year's 16 car-themed Super Bowl commercials you liked best, you chose the Farmer commercial from Chrysler Group, advertising the Ram trucks, over Audi's Prom commercial in second place. Turns out the voters in YouTube's Ad Blitz poll agreed, voting the same commercial to the number one spot from among the field commercials in every category.
From there, however, they went in a totally different direction. Budweiser's The Clydesdales spot came second, Samsung's The Next Big Thing took third. The Jeep Whole Again ad scored fourth in the YouTube poll, fifth in our poll of auto commercials, and the Hyundai Team spot got fifth from the YouTubers, but ninth in our poll.
The voting results don't match up with the viewing numbers, though - while Farmer has more than 13 million views, The Next Big Thing is well beyond 21 million. You can read the press release below and see all five spots, lined up for you, one more time.