2017 Ram 3500 Tradesman on 2040-cars

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Jeep and Ram could be spun off from FCA, says Marchionne

Jeep is surely the biggest single feather left in the cap of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles portfolio. Under Sergio Marchionne's leadership, Jeep went from fewer than 500,000 annual sales in 2008 to 1.4 million in 2016, and is on track for 2 million by 2018. Add in the brand's legacy, status as one of the most recognizable nameplates in the world, and rabid fan base, and Jeep has extraordinary monetary value to its parent company. Investors and analysts have certainly noticed Jeep's inherent value. According to The Detroit Free Press, Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas asked FCA chief Sergio Marchionne if he would ever consider spinning Jeep and Ram, FCA's dedicated truck brand, into a separate corporate entity, and he responded with a simple "Yes." Jonas estimated Jeep's worth in January of this year at $22 billion. Ram was valued at $11.2 billion. Marchionne has a history of spinning off brands while keeping them part of FCA's corporate umbrella. The most noteworthy example of this value maximization was with Ferrari, which now trades on the New York Stock Exchange and rakes in $3.4 billion in annual revenue and close to $435 million in net income, reports the Free Press. Marchionne still serves as chairman and CEO of Ferrari, and Fiat heir John Elkann owns 22 percent of the Italian marque's shares. Even if the offloading of Jeep and Ram into a separate entity would amount to little more than a profit-driven ownership change on paper, it would be huge news to the brands' loyal fanbases. In any case, such a move would likely take years to actually happen and probably wouldn't mean much at all to the products that Jeep and Ram produce. In other words, Jeep fans can keep the pitchforks in the shed ... for now. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Ram wants 'your wickedest and most outrageous designs' for a truck — now

Car coloring book pages have been a handy distraction during quarantine, but Fiat Chrysler has a better idea: Make your own coloring book page and perhaps win accolades in the FCA Design Sketch Battle. The automaker runs an annual Drive for Design competition for U.S. high school students in grades 10-12, and has just opened a contest-within-a-contest that's open to anyone in the world. The brief is to sketch "your wickedest and most outrageous designs for a Ram truck." For all those times you've had an idea about a pickup and thought, "This is what [insert OEM] needs to make! If I could only get to the boss!," now is your chance to get to the boss. Post your sketch — or sketches — into the comments section of the contest on FCA's Facebook page, or upload the drawing(s) to Twitter and call out the automaker with @FiatChrysler_NA. Each drawing needs to have "FCADriveforDesign.com" written on it somewhere, and each social media post needs to be garnished with the hashtag #DriveforDesign.  The contest judges are Mark Gilles, Fiat Chrysler head of design, and Mark Trostle, head of design for Ram and Mopar. They've attempted to juice the creative brain with a punch to the prefrontal cortex called the RAMpage. Playing off the name of a car-based pickup from the go-go 1980s that lasted two years — about how long 2020 feels already — the RAMpage is a Ram 1500 hood and upper fascia, a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody lower front and body, a pickup bed, and it's accented with obligatory yellow splitter guards that have matured into a properly racy splitter. You can take the RAMpage as a cue that your drawing doesn't need to threaten the living with massive bulk and post-apocalyptic looks. Ricky Ryan Goimarac, one of the entries so far, made his own version of the RAMpage that looks pretty sexy. And with the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, ZR2 Bison, and Ford Ranger Raptor still not quite there for some people, why wouldn't a mid-size Dakota TRX be a good idea right now? Here's the crucial part: All entries need to be submitted today, April 9th, no later than 5 p.m. Eastern. So yeah, there's not much time, but ... quarantine. Tomorrow, April 10, Gilles and Trostle will post their favorites to Instagram. For all those design-focused high-schoolers, entries for the official Drive for Design contest are due by May 1, 2020. Related Video:    

Win the ultimate glamping package: an Airstream Caravel and a Ram 1500

Autoblog may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability is subject to change. No donation or payment necessary to enter or win this sweepstakes. See official rules on Omaze. The first time I ever saw an Airstream was as a kid in Canada, where a friend’s neighbor had actually built the camper into the side of his house (not recommended). It wasnÂ’t until recently did I have the opportunity to use one as it was originally intended. Outside of Yosemite is a place called Autocamp, a luxury campsite made up of Airstreams, complete with spa-like showers and memory foam queen mattresses. This is the world of glamping.  The thing with Airstreams, though, is while they are iconic and incredibly thought out and comfortable, they are not cheap. Sure you can find rotted-out examples on Craigslist for a couple thousand bucks, but the money and sweat equity youÂ’d have to put into it would make you wish you had bought a new one. ThatÂ’s where Omaze has you covered. TheyÂ’re giving away a classic Airstream Caravel 20FB, and, because youÂ’ll need something to tow it with, theyÂ’re throwing in a Ram 1500 too. And if you enter today, you can also win a Mercedes Sprinter camper van. YouÂ’ll never have to worry about roughing it on a road trip ever again.  Win an Airstream Caravel and Ram 1500 - Enter at Omaze Imagine this, instead of taking road trips across the country, waking up with a sore back from camping on the ground or getting bedbugs in some cheap Route 66 hotel, you and three others — thatÂ’s right, the Airstream sleeps four — will wake up well-rested, thanks to memory foam mattresses, pet friendly leather seats, and climate control, ready for whatever adventure awaits. And if you donÂ’t win, you can still sleep easy knowing that your donation went to a good cause.  YouÂ’re probably asking yourself, what does it take to win? First of all, according to Omaze, "no donation or payment is necessary to enter or win this sweepstakes." If you do choose to donate, $10 will get you 25 entries, while $50 will get you 500 entries and $100 will get you 1,200 entries. Donations benefit the JuJu Foundation. If you want the ultimate glamping prize, and letÂ’s be honest, who wouldnÂ’t, enter quickly as the deadline to enter is August 26, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. PT.