2005 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel 4x4 6-speed Slt Long Bed Quad Cab on 2040-cars

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How fracking is causing Chrysler minivans to sit on Detroit's riverfront

It's fascinating the way that one change to a complex system can have all sorts of unintended consequences. For instance, there are hundreds of new Chrysler Town and County and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans built in Windsor, Ontario, sitting in lots on the Detroit waterfront because of the energy boom in the Bakken oil field in the northern US and parts of Canada.
The huge amount of crude oil coming from these sites mostly use freight trains for transport, and that supply boom has resulted in a shortage of railcars to carry other goods. According to The Windsor Star, North American crude oil transport by train has gone from 9,500 carloads in 2008 to 434,032 carloads in 2013. Making matters worse, some North American rail infrastructure is still damaged because of this year's harsh winter, and that's slowing things down even further.
Chrysler admits to The Star that it has had some delivery delays due to the freight train shortage. In the meantime, it's using more trucks to deliver its vehicles. Trucking is a far less economical solution, partially because a train can carry so many more units at one time, but alternatives are slim. The Windsor plant alone has a deal for 33 trucks to distribute the minivans around Canada and the Midwestern US.

Dodge brings Charger Widebody 'concept' to Spring Fest

Last week we asked if an Instagram user had really seen a Dodge Charger Widebody cruising suburban Detroit. The answer is yes, he had. Dodge brought its Charger Widebody concept to Spring Fest 14, a celebration of everything built on Chrysler's LX platform. Note the use of the word "concept," and a Fiat Chrysler spokesperson telling journos, "We are taking a Charger design concept to Spring Fest to gauge feedback from the huge Dodge Charger, Challenger, and Chrysler 300 enthusiast base that attends the California event each year." Mark Trostle, head of design for Dodge and SRT, shared a few snaps of the Charger Widebody to Instagram. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Now ignore the word "concept." Of course a thing isn't done until it's done, but two years ago a thread on Charger Forums mused on a Photoshop of the sedan as a widebody. User ResumeSpeed chimed in to say, "Rear is not accurate as it's being revised. 2020 model year. Two Charger WB models: Hellcat and 392 Scat Pack." Fast forward to February of this year when Mopar Insider said its sources confirmed a thick-hipped Charger R/T Scat Pack and Hellcat with "drastically different looking front and rear fascias." Then, earlier this month, Allpar received a slide from what looks like an internal Dodge presentation explaining the "2020 Dodge Charger Hellcat Wide Body." The sedan in the slide looks almost exactly like the "concept." And now this. They even designed it with the Dodge Durango SRT grille treatment, which seems like a logical part of that 2020 revision. Giving the Charger a nip and tuck, a little more tire, and a $6,000 surcharge similar to the Challenger Widebody makes too much sense to merely toy with and then file away. Check out this video for a complete walkaround, and stay tuned.

Dodge hoping Fast & Furious appearance gives Dart a sales jolt [w/video]

According to Automotive News, Chrysler is hoping Fast & Furious 6 will be kind to the Dodge Dart. While the compact sedan doesn't actually show up in the film, Dodge has partnered up with the movie franchise for a new ad featuring the Dart.
Chrysler hasn't exactly seen the high sales numbers it was originally hoping for with the new sedan, thanks in part to a couple of missteps. For starters, most early-production vehicles were only offered with a manual transmission. Analysts believe Chrysler squandered around 95 percent of potential Dart sales because automatic transmission options weren't immediately available.
Right now, the Dodge Dart rakes 19th among compact cars, pulling down 31,064 sales through April. Last month was the company's strongest, with 8,099 units moving off of dealer lots. Unfortunately, the model has also been handicapped by its older sister, the Avenger. With Chrysler throwing heavy incentives at the aging sedan, many consumers have taken advantage of a better deal with the slightly larger, more powerful Avenger.