2022 Ram 1500 Laramie on 2040-cars

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2021 Ram 1500 could finally get tech handed down from HD lineup

Based on details gleaned from spy shots of a 2021 Ram 1500 Laramie Sport Quad Cab 4x4 prototype, Mopar Insiders believes the 2021 Ram 1500 will adopt a few serious pickup convenience features, two of which have found homes on Ram heavy duty pickups for years. The first is towing mirrors with cameras as part of the pickup's 360-degree camera system. The Surround-View Cameras can be had as part of the Advanced Safety Group on the 1500 now, but they haven't been available with the trailer tow mirrors. On the heavy duty Rams, the Surround-View Cameras come as part of the Towing Technology Group. It's possible Ram will address the omission with next year's 1500 pickup. The same mirrors have been seen on the Ram 1500 Rebel TRX prototypes as well. The second hand-me-down from the heavy duty range is a bed-view camera mounted on an LED brake light at the back of the cab — Ram calls it the Center High-Mount Stop Lamp with Cargo View Camera. Some Ram owners making mods to their trucks, like installing a Tazer DT plug-in to access more vehicle settings, have discovered the camera line already installed as part of the harness. Next year could be when Ram decides to activate it. The last feature is trailer steering knob that serves a similar function to the Pro Trailer Backup Assist that can be optioned on the Ford F-150. The knob has been seen on leaked interior shots of the Rebel TRX, so it's assumed to spread to the rest of the 1500 trims. When backing up with a trailer, a driver turns the steering wheel in the opposite direction he wants to trailer to go. To make the job easier for occasional haulers, in a truck with trailer steering feature, the driver turns the dial in the direction he wants the trailer to go, and the software takes care of turning the truck to make the request happen. Since the fifth generation Ram 1500 only arrived for the 2019 model year, we don't expect substantive changes for 2021. Another big addition would be Uconnect 5, which debuts on the 2021 Pacifica but could slide to the Ram side of the family before the new model year. Related Video:

Stellantis wants to outfit cars with AI software to drive revenue

MILAN — Carmaker Stellantis announced a strategy Tuesday to embed AI-enabled software in 34 million vehicles across its 14 brands, hoping the tech upgrade will help it bring in 20 billion euros ($22.6 billion) in annual revenue by 2030. CEO Carlos Tavares heralded the move as part of a strategy that would transform the car company into a “sustainable mobility tech company,” with business growth coming from features and services tied to the internet. That includes using voice commands to activate navigation, make payments and order products online. The company is expanding existing partnerships with BMW on partially automated driving, iPhone manufacturer Foxconn on customized cockpits and Waymo to push their autonomous driving work into light commercial vehicle delivery fleets. StellantisÂ’ embrace of artificial intelligence and expansion of software-enabled vehicles is part of a broad transformation in the auto industry, with a race toward more fully electric and hybrid propulsion systems, more autonomous driving features and increased connectivity in automobiles. Ford and General Motors also are banking on dramatically increased revenue from similar online subscription services. But the automakers face immense competition for monthly consumer spending from movie and music streaming services, news outlets, Amazon Prime and others. Stellantis, which was formed from the combination of PSA Peugeot and FCA Fiat Chrysler, said the software would seamlessly integrate into customers' lives, with the capability of live updates providing upgraded services over time. New products will include the possibility to subscribe to automated driving features, purchase usage-based car insurance or even increase the power of the vehicle with a tune-up to add horsepower. As a baseline, Stellantis generates 400 million euros in revenue on software-generated services installed in 12 million vehicles. To meet the targets, Stellantis will expand its software engineering team of 1,000 to 4,500 in North America, Asia and Europe. More than 1,000 of the expanded team will be retrained in house. Stellantis also announced a new partnership with Foxconn to develop semiconductors to cover 80% of the companyÂ’s needs and simplify the supply chain. The first microchips from the partnership are targeted to be installed in vehicles in 2024.

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.