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2020 Ram Power Wagon Review | What mud?

A 2020 Ram Power Wagon is not your typical heavy-duty pickup truck. All of them try to be the tough kid on the block, but the Power Wagon goes even further. Just the name, Power Wagon, is synonymous with a tenacious, brash, and mean attitude.  “LetÂ’s go hop in my Power Wagon,” I shout at my friend. I donÂ’t even need to add anything else to that sentence to sound braggadocios. The Ram takes care of it for me. And I do mean hop into it. One does not gracefully step in and out of a Power Wagon, because it is simply far too high off the ground. There are side steps, but they're not one of those automatically-retracting ones that forms a staircase into the cabin. Instead, I grab the A-pillar handle, yank myself onto the step, and then swivel around to fall onto the large, comfy seat.  Once inside, the tough kid mantra starts to slip, but only slightly. Ram brought all the fancy interior appointments from the 1500 over to the Heavy Duty lineup with the 2019 refresh, which means the 2500 Power Wagon also gets all the goodies. Our heavily-optioned test truck doesnÂ’t feel rugged or basic on the inside at all. ItÂ’s covered in black leather, piano black and carbon fiber-look trim, metal accents and digital screens galore. There are still some rather large ‘Power WagonÂ’ badges here and there, plus the big mechanical transfer case shifter (the only Ram HD with one), but the inside is much more luxurious than one would expect from an off-road vehicle. 2020 Ram 2500 Power Wagon View 20 Photos Taking stock of my height relative to other vehicles on the road brings the reality of the Power Wagon back into perspective. Throughout my weekend behind the wheel, there wasnÂ’t another pickup that I passed or pulled up next to at a light that was sitting taller than me. This comes as no surprise, as the Power Wagon features a 2-inch lift from its custom suspension versus other Ram Heavy Duty trucks. It also has Bilstein shocks, front and rear locking differentials and an electronically disconnecting sway bar. Armed with all that, leaving the pavement is a must. Lacking any great off-road trails or logging roads in the southeast Michigan area, I turned the Power Wagon south and aimed for dirt roads. We had just received a few big rains in the area, and some of the dirt roads around here can get egregiously bad to navigate in winter. Thankfully, I found some mud.

Marchionne: Midsize pickup still not in the cards; Ram 1500, Jeep Wrangler could use aluminum

During the Fiat-Chrysler briefings on Tuesday, Reid Bigland, head of Ram Trucks, outlined the new product plans for his brand, including confirmation that an all-new light-duty Ram 1500 will launch in 2017. From there, discussions spun off in two directions, with the main questions being: will Ram build a midsize pickup? And, following Ford's move to extensively use aluminum in its new 2015 F-150, will Chrysler be using this weight-saving material for the next round of its fullsize truck, as well?
"I think there is room for a Ram 1000," Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne (pictured above) told members of the media, saying this is a conversation the automaker has been having internally for several years now. "We've tried this ... we've actually taken it to clinics," Marchionne stated, adding that the "response has been lukewarm."
"I have better use of aluminum in this house than a pickup truck." - Sergio Marchionne

Chrysler banks $507 million in Q2, trims 2013 earnings forecast

Chrysler has some good news and some bad news. First, profits were up 16 percent over the second quarter of 2012, bringing the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based manufacturer $507 million on the back of strong demand for trucks and SUVs (a recurring theme this quarter, particularly in the US). Q2 revenue was up as well, from $16.8 billion in 2012 to $18 billion in 2013. The bad news is that the Pentastar's overall earnings forecast for net income in 2013 has been trimmed from $2.2 billion to between $1.7 and $2.2 billion, according to Automotive News.
In addition to the adjusted net income forecast, Chrysler tweaked its operating profit from $3.8 billion to between $3.3 and $3.8 billion. This has gone largely unexplained by Chrysler, perhaps hoping the news of a three-percent increase in its transaction prices for Q2 will allow it to sweep this adjustment under the rug.
The star of the show for Chrysler has been its US sales, which saw a 10-percent jump, both bettering the industry average of eight percent and improving over the same stretch of 2012. As with the increase in transaction prices, Chrysler has the new Ram pickup and Jeep Grand Cherokee to thank. Perhaps most worrying from this report, though, is that every brand in the automaker's stable saw an increase in sales... except for the Chrysler brand itself.