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2019 Ram Heavy Duty gets new face, 1,000 lb-ft Cummins and the towing crown

We've seen uncovered images before in spy shots, but here are the official images and word on the 2019 Ram Heavy Duty pickups. Ram dropped so much verbiage on new features that we'd need the truck's 7,680-pound max payload rating to haul the press releases, so dig in. We'll start with that max payload rating, and the 35,100-pound tow rating. Gimlet-eyed truck watchers will note the Ram HD's max tow rating is exactly 100 pounds more than that available on a Ford Super Duty, meaning the Auburn Hills clan takes the "best-in-class" mantle for a few months. The other big number: 1,000 pound-feet of torque from the high-output version of the 6.7-liter Cummins inline-six turbodiesel, a 70-lb-ft increase over the 2018 Ram 3500 HD. Completing the specs at the top, that HO motor produces all that torque at 1,800 rpm, and makes 400 horsepower at 2,800 rpm. One step down, the standard-output 6.7-liter Cummins puts out 370 hp and 850 lb-ft. Thanks to developments like a compacted graphite iron block, lighter pistons, hollow camshaft, and new forged connecting rods and bearings, the Cummins engine has lost more than 60 pounds. The entry-level motor is a 6.4-liter Hemi gas-powered V8 with an unchanged 410 hp and 429 lb-ft. 2019 Ram Heavy Duty View 12 Photos The HO Cummins pairs to an Aisin AS69RC six-speed transmission, with upgraded hardware and programming for better shifting and oversight of the gravity-warping torque. The regular Cummins mates to a "significantly upgraded " version of the in-house 68RFE six-speed automatic. The 6.4-liter Hemi works with the well-known TorqueFlite 8HP75 eight-speed automatic, bolstered for heavy duty obligations, the first time the eight-speed makes an appearance in a Ram HD. A column-mounted shifter works the gearsets on the Cummins-equipped rigs, a rotary dial on the center stack controls the shift-by-wire eight-speed. The Cummins motors come with two 220-amp alternators. The Hemi V8 gets a 220-amp and a 160-amp alternator, which Ram says is the "first gas-driven application of its kind in either class." There will be six trims available: Tradesman, Bighorn/Lonestar, Power Wagon, Laramie, Laramie Longhorn, and Limited. The HD trucks don't share any exterior sheetmetal with the light-duty 1500, and each trim is known by different grilles, bumpers and wheels.

Hyundai reportedly eyeing a takeover of FCA

The CEO of Hyundai Motor Group plans to launch a takeover bid for Fiat Chrysler ahead of the planned retirement of FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne next spring, Asia Times reports, citing unnamed sources close the situation. CEO Chung Mong-koo will wait for an expected decline in the Italian-American automaker's shares to make his move. Hyundai isn't commenting on the rumors, unsurprisingly, but would presumably stand to benefit by gaining Chrysler's dealer network and the lucrative Jeep brand and probably Ram, too. An FCA spokeswoman in Auburn Hills told Autoblog the company had no comment. But like any story about a possible takeover, this one gets complicated with inside players — and President Trump's posturing on international trade issues. FCA has been the subject of takeover interest before, including by Hyundai, but Marchionne has denied a merger was likely, instead saying his company was in talks with the Korean automaker about a technical partnership. In 2015, Marchionne lobbied General Motors hard, but unsuccessfully, for a tie-up; he was also spurned by Volkswagen. Marchionne had repeatedly stressed the need for car companies to merge to decrease overcapacity and better afford the massive investments needed for things like autonomous and electric vehicles. In the case of Hyundai's reported interest, there is a cast of characters. One is Paul Singer, principal of the hedge fund Elliott Management, an activist shareholder with a $1 billion stake in Hyundai and a major owner of equities in Fiat's home turf of Italy. Then there is FCA Chairman John Elkann, who reportedly disagrees with Marchionne on a successor as CEO of Fiat Chrysler but has little interest in running the company himself and would prefer a merger. Compounding things is what the Trump administration would think of a further blending of Fiat Chrysler's international DNA, though a deal with a Korean automaker is thought to be more palatable to the president and members of Congress than by a Chinese conglomerate like Great Wall Motor, which has confirmed its interest in taking over all or parts of FCA. The full Asia Times piece is here. Related Video: News Source: Asia TimesImage Credit: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook Chrysler Fiat Hyundai Jeep RAM Sergio Marchionne FCA merger takeover

Huge, pricey trucks haul jobs and profits for the Detroit Three

DECATUR, Texas — Mickey McMaster is on his 12th pickup truck. The 61-year old farm equipment dealer in Decatur, Texas, two weeks ago treated himself to a 2019 GMC Denali for around $69,000 — a reward for long hours at work. "For me this is the Cadillac of trucks, it's a real luxury vehicle," McMaster said. "I've worked my way up to afford a truck like this and it shows that I've earned it." McMaster is the kind of customer General Motors Co is banking on as it plans to add 1,000 jobs at a plant in Flint, Michigan that will build a new generation of its largest pickups. Demand from Texas and other heartland states for big pick-ups is providing a lifeline to many workers the No. 1 U.S. automaker is laying off at plants elsewhere. The Detroit Three automakers and thousands of their U.S. workers are counting on customers like McMaster to keep buying bigger and more luxurious pickup trucks even if overall U.S. vehicle demand weakens this year, as most analysts predict. At Flint, GM will build a new generation of its heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierras, including luxury models that are some of the most profitable vehicles on the planet. GM, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's Ram division own the segment and are each doubling down with new or redesigned models launching this year. Sales of heavy-duty pickups in the United States have grown to more than 600,000 vehicles a year, up more than 20 percent since 2013, according to industry data. Prices for luxury models can easily top $70,000. GM on Tuesday celebrated the launch of a new generation of heavy-duty GMC and Chevrolet pickups at the assembly plant in Flint, Michigan, that is now building all such trucks for the company. At the same time that GM is laying off thousands of U.S. workers and planning to shutter five North American factories, Flint is hiring. The plant runs on three daily shifts, six days a week. As the new model's assembly system ramps up, the plant's capacity will increase by more than 25 percent, plant manager Mike Perez told Reuters. The Flint plant plans to add 1,000 workers, more than half of the 1,500 factory workers who have asked to transfer from plants GM has targeted for shutdown as part of CEO Mary Barra's restructuring plan. "We're bringing in 50 to 100 people every week," said Perez. Workers last week were still finishing the job of retooling the Flint factory to build the new heavy-duty trucks as part of a $1.5 billion investment project.