2014 Ram 1500 Slt on 2040-cars

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Ram recalling 131,000 heavy duty trucks over fire hazard

For a little over a year, Ram has been investigating an issue with a number of heavy duty trucks from the 2021 model year that have experienced engine bay fires. For some reason, even when the engine is off, the solid-state intake heater relay in Ram trucks fitted with the 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel can suffer a short and catch fire. In March of this year, the company planned to recall about 20,000 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada when it thought the problem was limited to trucks with unprotected relays. In May, Ram discovered the issue occurring even in trucks with protected relays. Now Ram is preparing to recall 131,177 trucks from the 2021 and 2022 model years. The models in question are:  2021-2022 Ram 2500 (DJ) pickups built between August 3, 2020 and October 8, 2021 (67,597 units) 2021-2022 Ram 3500 (D2) pickups built between August 5, 2020 and October 8, 2021 (39,324 units) 2021-2022 Ram 3500 Chassis Cabs (DD) built between August 12, 2020 and October 7, 2021 (7,317 units) 2021-2022 Ram 4500/5500 (DP) Chassis Cabs built between November 13, 2020 and October 8, 2021 (16,939 units) Ram says it is aware of about 10 engine bay fires, but no accidents nor injuries due to the fires. The bigger issue for now is that Fiat Chrysler engineers working with the component supplier still haven't been able to find a root cause for the fires. Until they can nail down a cause, Ram recommends parking affected models outside, away from structures and other vehicles.   The pickup maker expects to begin mailing letters to owners on December 3, the same day it informs dealers of the fix for the issue. Owners with questions can call the Stellantis customer service line at 1-800-853-1403, the automaker's internal code for the recall being Y76. Or they can contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153). Or go to www.nhtsa.gov. The NHTSA campaign number is 21V798 Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Stellantis ready to kill brands and fix U.S. problems, CEO Tavares says

  MILAN — Stellantis is taking steps to fix weak margins and high inventory at its U.S. operations and will not hesitate to axe underperforming brands in its sprawling portfolio, its chief executive Carlos Tavares said on Thursday. The warning for lossmaking brands is a turnaround for Tavares, who has maintained since Stellantis was created in 2021 from the merger of Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA that all of its 14 brands including Maserati, Fiat, Peugeot and Jeep have a future. "If they don't make money, we'll shut them down," Carlos Tavares told reporters after the world's No. 4 automaker delivered worse-than-expected first-half results, sending its shares down as much as 10%. "We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money." The automaker now also considers China's Leapmotor as its 15th brand, after it agreed to a broad cooperation with the group. Stellantis does not release figures for individual brands, except for Maserati which reported an 82 million euro adjusted operating loss in the first half. Some analysts say Maserati could possibly be a target for a sale by Stellantis, while other brands such as Lancia or DS might be at risk of being scrapped given their marginal contribution to the group's overall sales. Stellantis' Milan-listed shares were down as much as 12.5% on Thursday, hitting their lowest since August 2023. That brings the loss for the year so far to 22%, making them the worst performer among the major European automakers. Few automotive brands have been killed off since General Motors ditched the unprofitable Saturn and Pontiac during a U.S. government-led bankruptcy in the global financial crisis in 2008. Tavares is under pressure to revive flagging margins and sales and cut inventory in the United States as Stellantis bets on the launch of 20 new models this year which it hopes will boost profitability. Recent poor results from global carmakers have heightened worries about a weakening outlook for sales across major markets such as the U.S., whilst they also juggle an expensive transition to electric vehicles and growing competition from cheaper Chinese rivals. Japan's Nissan Motor saw first-quarter profit almost completely wiped out on Thursday and slashed its annual outlook, as deep discounting in the United States shredded its margins. Tavares said he would be working through the summer with his U.S. team on how to improve performance and cut inventory.

Best car infotainment systems of 2022

Declaring one infotainment system the best over any other is an inherently subjective matter. You can look at quantitative testing for things like input response time and various screen load times, but ask a room full of people that have tried them all what their favorite is, and you’re likely to get a lot of different responses. Some prefer systems that are exclusively touch-based with a simplistic user interface. Others may prefer a non-touch system that is navigable via a scroll wheel. You can compare it to the phone operating system wars. Just like some folks prefer Android phones over iPhones, we all have our own opinions for what makes up the best infotainment interface. All that said, our combined experience tells us that a number of infotainment systems are at least better than the rest. WeÂ’ve narrowed it down to five total systems in their own subcategories that stand out to us. Read on below to see our picks, and feel free to make your own arguments in the comments. Best overall: UConnect — Various Stellantis products If thereÂ’s one infotainment system that all of us agree is excellent, itÂ’s UConnect. Both UConnect 4 and the latest UConnect 5 software are included in this praise, too. It has numerous qualities that make it great, but above all else, UConnect is simple and straightforward to use. Ease of operation is one of the most (if not the single most) vital parts of any infotainment system interface. If youÂ’re expected to be able to tap away on a touchscreen while driving and still pay attention to the road, a complex infotainment system is going to remove your attention from the number one task at hand: driving. UConnect uses a simple interface that puts all of your key functions in a clearly-represented row on the bottom of the screen. Tap any of them, and it instantly pulls up that menu. We like the radio/media interface — itÂ’s super easy to swap stations or sources. The menu structure is easy to grasp, and of course both Apple CarPlay/Android Auto are available if you want them. UConnect 5 is a big visual improvement over UConnect 4, but thankfully it retains the same ease of use as the outgoing system. WeÂ’ll also point out that Stellantis is able to adapt UConnect to different screen shapes and sizes with great success — it works stunningly well in the vertical 12-inch screen of the Ram.