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Ram 1500 Texas Ranger Concept celebrates brand's law-enforcement partnership

While the auto industry's eyes are fixed on New York for its annual extravaganza at the Javits Center, Ram is making an end-around play. The truck maker is showing a new concept at the 2015 Dallas Auto Show based on the company's long-running partnership with the Texas Rangers (the lawmen, not the baseball team). Exterior changes to the 1500 are kept rather light, with badging inspired by the Rangers' iconic badges fitted to the front fenders and tailgate. The Rangers' badge is also found at the center of each 20-inch alloy wheel. As for the white/silver color scheme, it "embodies the white hats and silver badges that the good guys always wear." Starting with the handsome Canyon Brown and Tan leather of the Laramie Longhorn, Ram designers fitted four, five-peso coins to the door inserts. Texas Rangers' badges have long been hewn from the limited-issue Mexican currency, hence its inclusion in the 1500. The coins in the front door show "heads" and the back door coins are flipped to "tails." Adding to the unique touches, a prominent Texas Rangers' badge sits over the center console and is also embossed in the leather seatbacks. Even the dash cluster's display shows the Rangers' badge upon startup. Ram and the Texas Rangers formed their partnership back in 2014, with the truck maker "aiding the preservation of the history of the renowned law-enforcement organization," the company said in its press release. You can check out the full gallery of images, which include plenty of updated interior shots, above. As for Ram's press release, that is, as usual, available below. Related Video: Ram Unveils Texas Ranger Concept Truck Ram Texas Ranger concept follows 2014 partnership announcement Iconic Texas Ranger badges highlight Ram's interior and exterior design Western-themed trucks dominate Ram lineup in Lone Star State March 25, 2015 , Dallas - The Ram Truck brand today unveiled a one-of-a-kind Texas Ranger concept truck to commemorate and promote the brand's partnership with the renowned law-enforcement agency and the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum. Introduced by Ram Truck Brand President and CEO Bob Hegbloom at the 2015 Dallas Auto Show, the Ram Texas Ranger concept truck brings the legendary spirit of the Rangers to the road.

Work at a Chrysler dealership, get free college education

The cost of a college education in the US can put a student tens (hundreds, in some cases) of thousands of dollars into debt. FCA US wants to give its dealership employees a leg up, though, and the automaker is now offering a completely free education to them through a partnership with Strayer University. The workers can take any of the college's classes online or on campus through program called Degrees@Work. Currently, the offer is only available to employees Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Fiat dealers in the automaker's Southeast region, which includes Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. However, a national expansion will happen before the end of the year, Strayer spokesperson Cristina Henley tells Autoblog. The program will cover all of the students' expenses, including their books, according to Henley. FCA US sees this partnership as a way to improve the talent of its workforce, retain employees longer and possibly attract people wanting to take advantage of this free education. "Many of our dealers have expressed concern over the availability of talent to fill open positions due to business growth and turnover in their stores, especially in metro markets," Al Gardner, the company's Head of Dealer Network Development, said in the Degrees@Work announcement. Strayer has about 40 programs available, including in business administration, accounting, marketing, and more, and the university offers associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees. It will also give FCA US employees credit for their work experience to get them a diploma even more quickly. FCA US Dealers to Offer Employees No-Cost, No-Debt College Education FCA US teams with Strayer University to develop first-of-its-kind dealer program Degrees@Work program open to all employees of participating dealerships Employees can earn no-cost, no-debt degree through Strayer University All Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge, Ram and FIAT dealerships may participate First phase of program rollout begins with dealers in the FCA US Southeast Business Center National rollout expected later this year May 4, 2015 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Employees of Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge, Ram and FIAT dealerships will have the unique opportunity to earn a no-cost, no-debt college degree through Strayer University's Degrees@Work program, developed in collaboration with FCA US LLC. FCA US is the only company in the automotive industry to offer the program.

Ford, Chrysler and Mazda expand scope of Takata airbag recalls

The scope of the Takata airbag inflator recall is ballooning once again across the United States. Where Honda has elected to take its driver-side airbag campaign nationwide, Chrysler Group and Ford have now announced expanded regional actions to cover some passenger-side airbag inflators. Mazda is adding more regions, as well. For Chrysler Group, the campaign covers the inflators on 149,150 examples of the 2003-model-year Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups. The recall is limited to vehicles sold or ever registered in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. The company will begin notifying affected customers on January 19. According to Chrysler's announcement of the action, the passenger side inflators in these trucks "are of a type that is not used in any of the other vehicles affected by Chrysler Group's regional field action." The automaker says that it's not aware of any actual failures or accidents in these pickups and even claims there are no "observed failures in laboratory testing of its airbag modules." The company is continuing to study the problem, though. Ford is taking a similar step by issuing a recall of inflators for 38,500 examples of the 2004-2005 Ranger and 2005-2006 Ford GT. The campaign only affects vehicles originally sold or ever registered in Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Certain zip codes of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa are also covered. There's already precedent for passenger-side airbags to be covered under the Takata inflator recall. When many automakers announced campaigns in June, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota all included that side in some of their repairs. Subaru subsequently did, as well. In addition, Mazda is expanding the scope of its recall to add Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Saipan, Guam, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to the affected areas. The company estimates that it has a total of 86,773 vehicles in need of repair. Mazda is also teaming with Toyota to begin independent testing of the Takata inflators. Scroll down to read all of the automakers' announcements of these newly expanded recalls. Statement: Air-Bag Inflators December 3, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich.