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2013 Ram 1500 earns Truck of Texas honors

Auto writers around the country tend to specialize in different vehicles based on the trends of our respective home markets. The New England Motor Press Association, for example, presents an award every year for the best winter vehicle. With that in mind, it is fitting that the Texas Auto Writers Association doles out an annual truck award. This year, the TAWA "Truck of Texas" is the 2013 Ram 1500.
In a announcement from TAWA, the new Ram took top honors based in no small part on, "a new 3.6-liter V6 that boasts 42 percent more power, improved fuel economy, infotainment upgrades and available eight-speed automatic transmission and air suspension." And according to Ram CEO Fred Diaz, "Automotive reporters have reacted extremely favorably to the new 2013 Ram 1500, and our research tells us that resonates with truck buyers." The Ram 1500 unseated the previous Truck of Texas, the 2012 Ford F-150.
The Texas Auto Writers Association Truck Rodeo was also an occasion for journalists to award an SUV of Texas, and thankfully, the distinction is made between SUV and CUV. The Jeep Grand Cherokee took top honors in the SUV department, with TAWA pointing to models like the off-road-ready Trailhawk and feature-laden Overland Summit. It is the third consecutive year that the Grand Cherokee has achieved this accolade. The award for top crossover went to the 2013 Buick Enclave, which is in its first year of a new design. To read more on the Truck of Texas award and all the finalists, check out the press release below.

FCA issuing software update for 1.4M vehicles to prevent hacking

In the wake of a Jeep Cherokee being hacked remotely while on the road through its Uconnect infotainment system, FCA US is now issuing a software update for 1.4 million vehicles in the United States. Affected customers will receive a USB stick in the mail with the improved version; owners can check this website to see if their cars are affected. A large variety of models with FCA's 8.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system are affected. They include the 2015 Chrysler 200, 2015 Chrysler 300, 2015 Dodge Charger, and 2015 Dodge Challenger; 2013-2015 Dodge Viper; 2013-2015 Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500; 2013-2015 Ram 3500, 4500, and 5500 chassis cab; 2014-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Cherokee; and 2014-2015 Dodge Durango. According to FCA in its announcement, the new software "insulates connected vehicles from remote manipulation." As of July 23, the company also "fully tested and implemented within the cellular network" additional security to prevent access to many of a vehicle's systems. FCA US says that it's conducting this campaign out of an abundance of caution and disputes the notion that there's a defect with these vehicles. Beyond the demonstration of the hack in the Cherokee, the automaker says that it's unaware of any other reports of these attacks actually happening. Related Video: Statement: Software Update July 24, 2015 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - FCA US LLC is conducting a voluntary safety recall to update software in approximately 1,400,000 U.S. vehicles equipped with certain radios. The recall aligns with an ongoing software distribution that insulates connected vehicles from remote manipulation, which, if unauthorized, constitutes criminal action. Further, FCA US has applied network-level security measures to prevent the type of remote manipulation demonstrated in a recent media report. These measures – which required no customer or dealer actions – block remote access to certain vehicle systems and were fully tested and implemented within the cellular network on July 23, 2015. The Company is unaware of any injuries related to software exploitation, nor is it aware of any related complaints, warranty claims or accidents – independent of the media demonstration.

2019 Ram 1500: Everything we know

We're not too far away from the sheet being pulled off the 2019 Ram 1500. But over and over, we've had spy shots come in revealing much of the truck before hand. The latest ones have given us a very clear look at the truck's new grille, which boldly does away with the signature crosshair grille. The main iteration we've seen is the one above with the "RAM" logo in the center flanked by split chrome bars. Chrome is used extensively elsewhere, too. The traditional Ram logo has also probably been binned, at least on the exterior, in favor of the broad Ram script currently seen on the Ram Rebel, Laramie Longhorn and Limited trims. Indeed, it seems like a change that the brand has subtly been trying to get its customers ready for, as a quick trip to the company website will show a greater reliance on those trim levels to visually represent each Ram model (including the heavy-duty 2500 and 3500). View 3 Photos Now, there will likely continue to be multiple grille options available as there is today to at least differentiate luxury and off-road models. In the renderings above, we show a version of the grille without those chrome bars. The rest of the truck in the rendering is based on what we saw when some gusty weather unofficially revealed the Ram 1500 to a spy photographer, as seen in the gallery below. View 18 Photos As for everything else we know about the 2019 Ram 1500 ... The Interior View 8 Photos We got pretty good shots of the new Ram interior a few weeks ago. There will be a huge, vertically oriented touchscreen available, possibly with updated UConnect interface software, flanked by hard buttons for the climate control system. A volume knob and redundant multi-purpose control knob will remain, as will the rotary transmission selector. New toggle switches below will be dedicated to various vehicle controls, and we would assume would remain in place throughout the trim level range. Smaller touchscreens will almost certainly be found on lower trims with a traditional array of climate controls between them and the toggles. It'll be steel View 5 Photos An intrepid magnet-wielding spy photographer back in August examined a 2019 Ram test mule's body panels and discovered the majority of them are steel. The hood and tailgate are aluminum, however. There will be a split tailgate option View 18 Photos Speaking of that tailgate, spy photos have shown that it will be available with a split, barn-door-style tailgate option.