2022 Ram 1500 Big Horn on 2040-cars

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Huge, pricey trucks haul jobs and profits for the Detroit Three

DECATUR, Texas — Mickey McMaster is on his 12th pickup truck. The 61-year old farm equipment dealer in Decatur, Texas, two weeks ago treated himself to a 2019 GMC Denali for around $69,000 — a reward for long hours at work. "For me this is the Cadillac of trucks, it's a real luxury vehicle," McMaster said. "I've worked my way up to afford a truck like this and it shows that I've earned it." McMaster is the kind of customer General Motors Co is banking on as it plans to add 1,000 jobs at a plant in Flint, Michigan that will build a new generation of its largest pickups. Demand from Texas and other heartland states for big pick-ups is providing a lifeline to many workers the No. 1 U.S. automaker is laying off at plants elsewhere. The Detroit Three automakers and thousands of their U.S. workers are counting on customers like McMaster to keep buying bigger and more luxurious pickup trucks even if overall U.S. vehicle demand weakens this year, as most analysts predict. At Flint, GM will build a new generation of its heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierras, including luxury models that are some of the most profitable vehicles on the planet. GM, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's Ram division own the segment and are each doubling down with new or redesigned models launching this year. Sales of heavy-duty pickups in the United States have grown to more than 600,000 vehicles a year, up more than 20 percent since 2013, according to industry data. Prices for luxury models can easily top $70,000. GM on Tuesday celebrated the launch of a new generation of heavy-duty GMC and Chevrolet pickups at the assembly plant in Flint, Michigan, that is now building all such trucks for the company. At the same time that GM is laying off thousands of U.S. workers and planning to shutter five North American factories, Flint is hiring. The plant runs on three daily shifts, six days a week. As the new model's assembly system ramps up, the plant's capacity will increase by more than 25 percent, plant manager Mike Perez told Reuters. The Flint plant plans to add 1,000 workers, more than half of the 1,500 factory workers who have asked to transfer from plants GM has targeted for shutdown as part of CEO Mary Barra's restructuring plan. "We're bringing in 50 to 100 people every week," said Perez. Workers last week were still finishing the job of retooling the Flint factory to build the new heavy-duty trucks as part of a $1.5 billion investment project.

Ram 1500 TRX Hellcat-powered prototype spied testing in Arizona

For the past few years, FCA has been on a Hellcat craze. Ever since the first Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger Hellcat debuted, we've seen that supercharged 6.2-liter V8 stuffed under the hood of the bonkers Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and turned up to 11 in the Demon and new Hellcat Redeye. There was also the Hellcat-powered Ram 1500 TRX concept vehicle, which FCA announced back in May would finally go into production as the Ram TRX. Today, we have our first look at an early prototype. Unlike the Ram 2500 Power Wagon — a personal favorite of mine — the TRX is aimed squarely at the Ford F-150 Raptor. While we don't have any under-hood shots, the photographer said there was no mistaking the whine emanating from the truck for anything but a supercharger. While we don't know how much power the truck will make, expect a minimum of 707 horsepower. For reference, that's 257 more horsepower than the F-150 Raptor. Power is likely to be sent to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. Aside from that, there's not much to say about this prototype. While it mostly looks like a Ram 1500 Big Horn, it is fitted with with a set of one-piece Fuel D579 wheels and BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A tires. It also looks like it has a slightly wider front and rear track than the standard Ram 1500. The longer exhaust tips look temporary and are certainly going to look far more polished on the production model. We don't know when we might see the finished product as FCA's plans were a little more nebulous at this past five year plan. Our fingers are crossed for something this next auto show season. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2021 Ram 1500 adds Limited Longhorn 10th Anniversary Edition, new tech

The Ram 1500 is getting a handful of updates for 2021, including handy new tech, updated convenience features, and a new Limited Longhorn 10th Anniversary Edition with unique trim elements. We heard hints about the Limited Longhorn earlier in August, when it was reported that it might replace the Laramie Longhorn model in the Ram 1500 lineup. Now we know that it's an equipment package that bundles unique door bolsters, seat insert, trim bezels, center stack surround, speaker grilles, berber carpet and a metal pedal kit with Longhorn 10th Anniversary Edition badges inside and out.  On the tech front, the Ram 1500 gets two pretty swanky new options. The first is a new HUD, which is a first for the 1500. As with the rest of the truck, Ram's engineers decided to go big rather than go home, delivering a full-color display that can display five unique elements and be customized via the in-dash Uconnect infotainment center. Drivers can choose between lane departure and lane keeping indicators, adaptive cruise control status, navigation directions, current speed, current gear and posted speed limits.  The second new piece of solid tech is a digital rearview mirror with a 9.2-inch LCD display. Similar to that found in GM's current half-ton lineup, it can be switched off in favor of an old-fashioned mirror if drivers prefer that perspective to the rear-mounted camera feed.  Ram is also shuffling some options around between trim levels, adding and updating some safety tech, and offering some other new features for the first time, like reverse steering control for the Trailer package. A new snow plow prep option with a 220-amp alternator is also available.  Related Video: