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2021 Ram 1500 Limited Longhorn 10th Anniversary Edition revealed with southwestern flair

Ram has made pickups as a standalone brand for about 10 years now, and the company is celebrating this milestone with a special edition truck. It’s called the 2021 Ram 1500 Limited Longhorn 10th Anniversary Edition. Being the “Limited” trim, itÂ’s starting out as the most luxurious and well-appointed Ram that money can buy. Ram is sweetening the deal with a bunch of southwestern-themed appearance items. On the outside, the 10th Anniversary Edition distinguishes itself with a chrome-slate grille, chrome headlight header, chrome bumpers, a special tailgate badge and new 20-inch wheels that are available in multiple finishes. YouÂ’ll also get tow hooks, side steps and the adaptive LED headlights as standard equipment. On the interior, Ram ramps up the luxury even higher than normal. It comes with a new leather-wrapped dashboard, suede door inserts, leather seat inserts on the bolsters with a unique design to highlight a “southwestern style.” It comes in a Mountain Brown interior color theme and features hammered aluminum accents, a 10th Anniversary instrument cluster with graphic and badge, a glossy black shifter cap, metal pedal kit and a brushed-zinc badge on the center consoleÂ’s lid. YouÂ’ll be able to spec the truck with the 5.7-liter V8 or the 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6. ItÂ’s only available in the Crew Cab body style, but you can get it in either the 5-foot-7-inch or 6-foot-4 bed lengths. Pricing begins at $58,565, including the $1,695 destination charge. These trucks are on sale now, so check your local dealers if you want one of the special editions.

Ram boss says not to expect midsize pickup in America

Remember that mysterious midsize four-door pickup FCA was spotted testing recently? It may be sold as a Fiat in markets overseas, but don't expect it to join the Ram lineup in North America. At least not according to the latest word from the truck brand's new boss. Speaking with Automotive News at the New York Auto Show, Ram CEO Bob Hegbloom outlined four criteria for a successful midsize pickup, particularly in the North American marketplace: they have less capability than a fullsize truck, but return with a more compact form, lower price and considerably higher fuel economy. "I've been able to develop a strategy to come up with three of the four," said Hegbloom, but "I haven't seen anyone who can deliver on all four." Smaller and less capable are easy, but getting both the price and the fuel consumption down at the same time is where it gets tricky. As it is, a Ram 1500 with the diesel engine and rear-wheel drive delivers 29 miles per gallon on the highway, which is already more than the 27-mpg rating on the midsize Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon. But Hegbloom figures that in order to justify a midsize pickup, American buyers would expect at least 35 mpg on the highway, and in order to do so, FCA would have to employ some trick tech, which would in turn raise the price beyond an attractive level. The last time Chrysler offered a midsize truck in America was with the Dakota that was discontinued in 2011. Ford similarly ceased offering the Ranger in North America in 2012, leaving the new Colorado and Canyon to take on the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier in the compact/midsize pickup market in the US. With the prospect of a Ram version apparently off the table, then, Fiat's midsize four-door pickup is likely take on the likes of the Volkswagen Amarok, Mitsubishi Triton and Toyota Hilux in markets like Europe and South America. But like those trucks, it will likely never see the inside of an American showroom.

Stellantis lays off salaried workers, cites uncertainty in EV transition

DETROIT — Jeep maker Stellantis is laying off about 400 white-collar workers in the U.S. as it deals with the transition from combustion engines to electric vehicles. The company formed in the 2021 merger between PSA Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler said the workers are mainly in engineering, technology and software at the headquarters and technical center in Auburn Hills, Michigan, north of Detroit. Affected workers were notified starting Friday morning. “As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,” the company said in a prepared statement Friday. The cuts, effective March 31, amount to about 2% of Stellantis' U.S. workforce in engineering, technology and software, the statement said. Workers will get a separation package and transition help, the company said. “While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive,” the statement said. CEO Carlos Tavares repeatedly has said that electric vehicles cost 40% more to make than those that run on gasoline, and that the company will have to cut costs to make EVs affordable for the middle class. He has said the company is continually looking for ways to be more efficient. U.S. electric vehicle sales grew 47% last year to a record 1.19 million as EV market share rose from 5.8% in 2022 to 7.6%. But sales growth slowed toward the end of the year. In December, they rose 34%. Stellantis plans to launch 18 new electric vehicles this year, eight of those in North America, increasing its global EV offerings by 60%. But Tavares told reporters during earnings calls last month that “the job is not done” until prices on electric vehicles come down to the level of combustion engines — something that Chinese manufacturers are already able to achieve through lower labor costs. “The Chinese offensive is possibly the biggest risk that companies like Tesla and ourselves are facing right now,Â’Â’ Tavares told reporters. “We have to work very, very hard to make sure that we bring out consumers better offerings than the Chinese.